Supernatural University
by KaitouKiwi
Summary: It's hard enough managing college life and classes, but when monsters are thrown into the mix things can become a bit more complicated. Theodore Barnes, a seasoned hunter, and his inquisitive friend, Raelynn Fairfax, try to keep their campus and city safe while also maintaining balance in their everyday lives. Rated T for some language and violence. Written with MortalInstrumetals.
1. Wait Until Nina Comes (Part One)

**Hello. Kiwi here. I'm writing this story with my friend MortalInstrumentals. It's our first collab with one another and our first Supernatural story. If you don't like occasional bad language or violence, don't read. Thanks.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter One: Wait Until Nina Comes (Part One)<span>

The worst thing about Florida winters were the random rainstorms. The cold that followed only added to fact that Kevin hated winter the most. Today was no different. Luckily the cold hadn't set in yet, but it didn't stop Kevin from cursing out to the sky.

"Fuck!"

He waited in his spot, as if expecting someone to shout an apology back at him and stop the rain. It had been drizzling before he left for work, and with his luck, it began pouring just as he stepped out. Tijuana Flats was located just off University Boulevard and Goldenrod Road. It wasn't that far from where Kevin lived, about a twenty minute walk. Only five minutes out, and he was already soaked.

Kevin looked around at the cars waiting by the stoplight just as the pedestrian signal flared in the gloomy distance. He crossed the street in a sprint, water splashing as his foot plunged into a puddle.

"Shit." He looked down at his now soaked shoes and attempted to dry them with a shake. Looking back up at the road ahead, he sighed and began trudging his way back home. The weather reflected his mood perfectly. Just when he thought that the weather would go back to normal, it would do a complete one-eighty. It's hot then it's cold, then it's hot then it's cold. Florida really needed to make up its mind. He hadn't brought his umbrella with him; he really should have known better. As if it could read his mind, the rain picked up. The path darkened, and he could only see just a few feet ahead. He had closed shop today, so it was relatively late. Kevin looked around, but there weren't many cars. Not that it mattered. The area was usually safe, it wasn't as if this was the first time Kevin had closed the shop.

_Meow_.

He stopped in his tracks, wondering for a split second if he had actually heard what he thought he'd heard. With his curiosity now piqued, Kevin turned to his right, where the sudden noise had originated from. It was nothing but darkness. At first, he thought he was just staring at a clearing in the trees, but then Kevin was able to discern the faint silhouette of a wooden sign where a mailbox should have been. It was just a driveway. Squinting at the sign, Kevin read the four numbers scrawled on it: 4175. He had walked by the lot every day during his commute to and from work, but he had never paid much attention to it. Where was the house on the lot? He couldn't quite remember what it looked like. Straining his eyes against the relentless downpour, Kevin saw a pair of gleaming eyes staring back at him. Definitely a cat, just like he'd thought.

"What are _you_ doing out here in the rain?" Kevin felt like the animal's eyes were looking right through him, judging him. He took a step closer to it. The cat emerged from the darkness only slightly, its deep raven hued fur glistening from the rain. It looked as dejected as Kevin felt. Reaching out a single hand towards the cat, Kevin expected it to come towards him, but was surprised when it shrank back into the driveway. "Where are you going, little guy?" He blindly walked forward. The cat eluded him, like in a dream. No matter how close Kevin got, the cat always seemed to be the same distance away. There were lights growing closer, he could see it now; the familiar shape of a house jumped out at him the windows aglow with soft, radiating light. It broke through dark curtains and spilled out from a crack in the door. There was an old dejected car parked off to the right. Someone's home. He should start heading home too.

_It's dry inside._ Kevin studied the sight before him; the house looked different. Had it always seemed this inviting? _It's warm inside._ If he remembered it correctly, it had always seemed rejected. An empty lot filled with weeds. It seemed so open and welcoming though. He took a few more steps forward, drawn to the door. _Come inside._ His hand wavered near the doorknob now and, without another second of hesitation, he pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside.

The fireplace in the living room immediately caught Kevin's attention. They weren't really commonplace in Florida homes. Maybe this house was older than he expected, or owned by some snow birds that couldn't live through the winter without their northern comforts. Something brushed up against his leg and he stiffened up, glancing down to see the cat from outside. It made its way through the foyer and Kevin followed, already feeling the difference that the warmth from the blazing fire made. A wave of comfort washed over him as he made his way past the few pieces of furniture in the living room to sit in a plush upholstered arm chair close to the fire. Maybe the owners wouldn't mind if he stayed here for just a little while. At least until the rain let up a little.

_Meow_. Kevin looked down to see the cat rubbing up against his leg once more. Did this cat belong to the owners of the house? It didn't have a collar on or anything. Then again, that stuff was usually more for dogs then cats. It turned away from him before encircling the center of the room and sitting, its tail flicking back and forth. "Wait until Nina comes," it said in a surprisingly deep voice.

Kevin stared back at the cat. Had he heard it right? His eyes focused on the creature. "D-Did you say something?" The cat continued staring. Its eyes flickered to the side for just a brief second and, once again, those glowing eyes were back on Kevin. "Did—" A purr filled the room. Kevin's head spun to the side where another cat was boring its eyes into him. Kevin forgot about the other cat and watched as this new creature made its way towards the fireplace.

His coat was grey and spotted like a leopard, but that wasn't the only thing different about this cat. It was larger than the first, much larger. It was as big as a Labrador, but its movements were as agile as a snake. Without taking its eyes off Kevin, the larger cat slithered into the fireplace. Kevin jolted in his seat, about to reach out for the cat, but thought better of it and remained seated. He watched as the cat pawed at a piece of coal and played with it as if it were a ball of yarn. It nudged it with its muzzle and looked up abruptly, as if finally remembering that Kevin was in the room with it. With a tilt of its head, the cat got up and joined its smaller companion in the middle of the room. "What shall we do with him?" the larger cat said in a hushed tone.

"We shan't do anything," the smaller one said. They both stared at Kevin, their eyes studying him intently.

"But what if he leaves? What if he goes before Nina comes?" As if on cue, Kevin jumped to his feet. Both cats watched him as he backed up towards the entrance, towards the rain. "You see?"

"We will wait," the deep voice said. "Wait until Nina comes."

Kevin continued backing up, not breaking eye contact with either of the cats. They too kept their eyes on him. He reached out behind him, feeling for the doorknob, when a lion walked past him. The two cats fell silent. Their focus was now on the lion that strutted past them and curled up inside the fireplace. As Kevin studied the beast, he realized that it wasn't a lion but a long furred orange tabby cat. It barely fit in the fireplace as it rolled around on the coal. "We shall wait for Nina," it said with a yawn.

"I told you," the smaller cat said with a hiss, but the larger cat remained silent, watching as the largest of the three played lazily with a piece of coal. A tinkling sound filled the room and all three cats immediately turned to face Kevin. He stopped dead in his tracks, mind completely blank, when something small brushed against his leg. He looked down to find a calico kitten staring back up him, purring excitedly. Kevin watched as the kitten skipped towards the two cats waiting in the middle of the room. The cats looked at Kevin, waiting for something to happen, while the calico licked her paw absentmindedly.

A flash came from outside the window. Lightning. Kevin screamed, but the thunder that followed was too loud, muffling his shrieks of horror. The three cats watched, their eyes glistening with glee.

* * *

><p>"Aargh," Theo placed his hands over his face in an attempt to muffle his scream of anguish. "I don't think I can handle another three hour lecture. All the professor does is talk and talk and talk and talk. He never stops."<p>

Raelynn rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly, watching her friend writhe in agony. "Come on. It can't be _that_ bad," she said, moving her backpack further down the long, wooden table that Theo was currently seated at. She pulled out the plastic chair directly across from him and took a seat. "You could always come sit through my four hour organic chemistry lab. I'm sure you'd enjoy _that_ then."

"Ich. No thanks. I'll take Dr. Speere any day. He's boring, but at least the subject is exciting."

"That's what I thought," Raelynn said with a grin.

"So how was your first day of classes?" Theo said as he pulled out his laptop from inside his bag.

Raelynn pulled her bag closer to her and rested her head down on it. "I don't know. It's been fine, I guess." She slowly unzipped the main compartment of the deep indigo bag and pulled a thick, three subject spiral notebook from it. "My stats professor told us we're already gonna have a quiz this Friday and then my calculus class . . ." Raelynn lifted her head and opened the notebook before digging back into the confines of her backpack and grabbing a pencil. "Well, calculus is calculus. It's not easy, but it's not too hard I guess. Just boring." She dated the top of her paper, preparing to start practicing some of the stuff she'd already learned in lecture that day. "And you?"

"It was great honestly. The subjects are nothing to complain about. My professors could be a little bit more exciting, but I'm not complaining. They could be a lot worse. I've got some great sources for my blog though," he said, typing furiously on his keyboard. "Do you have any clue when soccer starts this semester? I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to cancel it altogether with all this crazy weather."

She groaned, her brown eyes focused down on her paper still. "I got an email from the coach that practice should officially start next week, but I've been down to the fields myself to try and get a better feel for them, but they're all muddy." The numbers she had scrawled looked like nothing but scribbles to her and Raelynn pushed them away, now focusing on Theo who was engrossed in his writing. "Like, super muddy. My cleats started sinking right in which was _not_ cool. Took me an hour at least to clean them all up. Are you actually gonna come out to practice this semester?"

Theo looked up from his computer screen and studied her for a second. He brushed his sandy hair back and closed his eyes as he considered the question for a second. "Nah," he finally said. "I don't think so. I've really got to get working on my blog. I barely post, but I'll probably go down to the field with you. It's always fun to watch you guys play. Just thinking about it is exciting. Maybe I'll dedicate a page to soccer!" His attention was back on the screen. "Do you still have that picture of us? You know the one, right?" He looked up for a brief second. His cobalt eyes scanning her face, bent down towards her notes, her eyebrows furrowed. He held back a laugh just as she looked up and stuck her tongue out at him. "It'd go great on my blog you know."

"Shut up." Raelynn pushed her eyes back down to her notes, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "I look awful in that picture anyways. High school was my awkward phase and you know that." Before Theo could try and come back at her with anything else, she cut him off. "And, yes, _all_ of high school was my awkward phase. The picture stays between you and me and not on your blog." Raelynn felt a soft vibration from her jean pocket and dug her phone out, placing it on the table. Unlocking the screen with a single swipe of her finger, she sighed deeply. "Just got an email from my biology professor. Quiz in that class on Thursday now and I haven't even had a single lecture for it yet." She squeezed her eyes shut, deciding that she would much rather work on biology than math now. "I think I might have left my textbooks in your room after I picked them up from the bookstore. Mind if we head there so I can pick them up and start studying for _something_?"

"Yeah, I should probably get to studying too. We have a quiz in my world lit class on Friday." He closed his laptop and placed it back in his bag just as Raelynn did the same with her notebook. "Jared and Jensen should be back, but I think Mark still has one more class today." Theo had been lucky with his roommates. They were nice enough, clean enough, and didn't pry too much into his business. The two made their way up to the first floor of the library and out. Theo stood at the entrance for a second, staring past the Reflection Pond. He and Raelynn hadn't gone back home for winter break. It was their first Christmas away from home. He could have gone back to Pennsylvania to see his parents, but after he moved, they took the family business back up. When he called them to make plans, they had been halfway across the country on a hunt. He told them it was okay, that Raelynn would be staying back with him so he wouldn't be alone. That was a lie, but Raelynn took advantage of the situation and used it as an excuse to stay back with him. Her coming to Florida didn't exactly sit right with her parents, so they didn't leave on a good note.

"Theo? Let's go," she said. "We could probably get something to eat after dropping by your place." They both made their way towards the Student Union at the heart of campus, Raelynn greeting her friends with a wave, and Theo nodding in acknowledgement.

The cloudy sky prevented the usually unrelenting sun from beating down upon them as they made their way across Memory Mall—students walking to and fro across the patches of grass in between the walkways. Raelynn let her eyes drift towards the constant traffic that barreled down the street that separated Knight's Plaza from the rest of campus. Just a quick trip across the road and they would be at their dorms. She took a quick glance at the building off to her right as they walked, trying to see if she could pinpoint her window. It had been a bit disappointing when she had learned that she wasn't in the same building as Theo, but at least their buildings were next to each other. Tower 3 and Tower 4. "Do you ever feel weird living with the super smart kids?" She watched as Theo quickly input his security code into the number lock by the front door of the building.

"It's not . . . too weird," he glanced around at the group of students gathered in front of a flat screen T.V. They were playing the new Smash Bros. game. Theo watched as Link was thrown off screen and the entire group roared with laughter. "It's pretty interesting listening to them talk, but sometimes I find it tiring listening to them. I wish they had put me in Tower 4, but what can I do? At least Jared and Mark are in the same boat as me." Out of his three roommates, only Jensen was in the honors college, and even he found the other honor students to be a bit unbearable. They weren't bad people, but they could be a bit eccentric about their studies. Theo and Raelynn made their way to the stairway and climbed up to the third floor, a girl in a TARDIS dress rushing past them, her light blue backpack bouncing as she continued down the steps.

Theo's dorm was just across from the door that led to the staircase. The theme for his floor this semester was Disney. There were four cutouts of Mickey Mouse on the door, each with the name of the students that lived there: Mark, Jared, Theodore, and Jensen. Theo unlocked the door, and Jared greeted him from the small dining table—books strewn across the surface—positioned in the corner of the room. "Where's Jensen?" Theo said. Jared motioned towards the left of the dorm, where his and Jensen's bedroom stood. Theo looked down the small hallway; Jensen had just peeked out, giving a brief wave, before disappearing back into his room.

"Mark just texted me," Jared said. "He said his class is out, but he's going to grab something to eat."

"Cool, we're about to do the same thing," Theo said as he followed Raelynn down the hall that led to his and Mark's bedrooms.

"Your bed's a mess," Raelynn said.

"You're one to talk," he said placing his bag by the desk in front of a window. "You ready?"

"Yep."

Raelynn grabbed one of the books thrown across Theo's bed, and Theo stuffed his wallet into his jean pocket. They walked back into the dorm's living room where Jensen was now sitting on the couch opposite from the T.V. "Do you guys see this?" he said. Theo and Raelynn looked towards the screen, even Jared looked up from his notes to watch was happening.

"Chaos in the streets of Winter Park earlier this morning," the reporter said, his expressionless face giving Raelynn the creeps. "Twenty-one year old Kevin Burnett was found wandering aimlessly near the intersection of University Boulevard and Goldenrod Road, causing major traffic delays." Tearing her eyes away from the screen for a split second, Raelynn glanced over at Theo who seemed engrossed in the news story. "After failing to return home last night, his concerned girlfriend set out to locate him, only to discover him out in the streets, whispering to himself and acting uncharacteristically. Authorities showed up at the scene and have placed Burnett in the care of the staff at Winter Park Memorial Hospital. No other information has been released at this time, but all delays have been cleared up for the evening rush hour."

It all seemed a little . . . odd. Sure, the news was full of crazy stories, and Raelynn herself had driven past Knight Library on the weekends and seen drunken students stumbling across the sidewalks, but there was something about this that felt different. She could tell that Theo felt the same way. "Weird," she said, turning away from the television and slowly making her way towards the main door of the dorm. "But, we've gotta go get something to eat before we waste away into nothingness." Clutching her biology book a little tighter, she widened her eyes as Theo followed her, telling his roommates that he'd see them a little later.

The door shut behind them and they stood out in the hall. "I know that look, Theodore Barnes," Raelynn said, raising a single eyebrow. "You think something's up, don't you?"

"I could be wrong," he hoped, but after all these years, he knew what to expect. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't look into it. Maybe the guy's just drunk."

* * *

><p><strong>Feedback is appreciated. I'm writing this for fun, but MortalInstrumentals is a creative writing major so I know he'd love to read critiques. Thanks!<strong>


	2. Wait Until Nina Comes (Part Two)

Chapter Two: Wait Until Nina Comes (Part Two)

It was still light out when Theo parked his Jeep behind the tan hospital building. He and Raelynn both stepped out into the parking lot at the same time. "Have you checked on Argos today?" she said as she made her way around the car.

"No, we can pick him up after we're done here. He'll help a lot when we're out in the field."

"Yeah," she said with a laugh. "He's always been better than you with clues."

They both fell into silence and studied the building before them. They always gave themselves a minute or two before starting an investigation. They had reached the point of no return. If one of them wanted to walk away, now would be the time. Neither of them said a thing, and as if reaching a silent agreement, they made their way into the building.

The hustle and bustle that surrounded them was very familiar to Raelynn. Since her major was in health sciences, she figured that volunteering at a nearby hospital would help her get a foot in the door for future jobs. Also, it looked great on a resume. A nurse behind the main desk gave Raelynn a friendly smile. "Hi there, Lynn," the woman said. "I didn't think you were coming in again until this weekend."

"Just stopping in for a visit today." She plastered a genuine looking smile on her face. "I heard that my acquaintance, Kevin Burnett, was admitted here a little earlier so I just wanted to check up on him and see if he was feeling any better."

"That's so sweet of you. He's down the hall to the left in room 103. But you know that visiting hours end in a little bit so don't take too long." With that, the nurse went back to typing away on her keyboard, transcribing documents.

Theo and Raelynn turned down the hall as quickly as they could. "You're so sweet, _Lynn_," he said, giving Raelynn a playful smirk. He knew she hated being called that, and the blush that rose to her cheeks as he teased her only confirmed it further. "So, do you lie to your co-workers on a daily basis?"

"Not daily," she shot back, finally spotting where the room was down the hall. There were a couple of people gathered outside the door. "Besides, I'm only a volunteer. If anyone could be considered my co-worker, it'd be you." Inhaling deeply, Raelynn tucked her caramel colored hair behind her ears and tried to prepare herself for anything. Hospitals had rules and, right now, they were breaking some important ones.

As they approached the room Kevin was assigned to, they spotted a couple standing outside the door. The woman was hunched over the man, her head on his shoulder and his arm wrapping around her back. "Parents?" Theo whispered. Raelynn nodded and straightened her back as she moved closer towards the worried pair.

"Hi," she said softly. "We were watching the news and saw what happened to Kevin. I can't believe it. I had just seen him earlier that day and he seemed perfectly normal."

The couple stared at Raelynn in confusion; their eyes flickered back to Theo for a second before Mr. Burnett spoke. "Who are you?"

"We work with him," Theo added. "We—"

"I go to Tijuana regularly, and I've never seen you before. Kevin's never mentioned you either," Mrs. Burnett said, the suspicion clear in her voice.

Raelynn and Theo stared at each other for a brief second before continuing. "They just hired us this week. Kevin's been helping us get used to everything, so when we heard that he was hospitalized we just had to come. It felt. . . necessary." That seemed to do the trick. Whatever suspicion their parents had seemed to have faded away, at least for now.

"So how is he?" Theo added.

"He's fine now," Mrs. Burnett said. "The doctors put him on some medication, so he's asleep. There wasn't anything they could do with him awake. He kept jerking around, whispering, shouting things," her voice choked at the very end. Theo looked down, pretending to study his shoes. Hopefully Raelynn would take over asking questions. He was never good at interrogating people. It had always been his parents who did the questioning, and Raelynn took over when the two paired up. She had a knack for it, unlike him.

"What happened exactly?" Raelynn paused as if to think what to say next. "Like I said, he seemed normal that day."

Kevin's parents remained quiet for a while. Theo took this as an indication to leave. They didn't want to talk about it, and that was fine. He and Raelynn would scout the area where Kevin was found. He grabbed a hold of Raelynn who was standing in front of him.

"I found him," a voice said from behind the grieving couple. The Burnetts moved aside to reveal a girl in her early twenties. She had a cup of coffee and her car keys in one hand.

"Danny," Mr. Burnett said. "Welcome back. He's still asleep."

"Who are they?" Danny said, motioning her coffee cup towards Raelynn and Theo.

"They're coworkers of Kevin's, just started this week."

Danny gave them same suspicious glare that Mr. and Mrs. Burnett were giving earlier. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Another awkward silence filled the air.

"So," Raelynn said. "You found Kevin?"

"Yeah. He told me he was closing yesterday, but he never showed up. I thought it was weird. He always texts me if he's going out with some friends, but I didn't get any messages. Still, I went to sleep and woke up the next morning to find that he still hadn't come home." Mrs. Burnett stifled a sob, but Danny continued. "I got in my car and drove down to Tijuana Flats. We don't live that far. Kevin usually just walks to work. That's when I found him. He was in the middle of the street. There were cars trying to drive by, but he just stood there. They drove around him, honking their horns and screaming at him. I stopped my car and told him to get in, but he didn't. He ignored me. He was whispering something. Nina's coming? It was all gibberish. I got out of the car and walked over to him. He freaked out as soon as I touched him. He started screaming. He ran away, but collapsed before he could get too far. I didn't know what to do, so I called 911."

"Hmm. . . that's really unlike him," Raelynn frowned, trying to feign sincere concern. "Glad that he got to the hospital when he did. Who knows what could have happened to him." _Remember these details for later_, she thought. "Maybe we could say 'hi' to him really quick? See if he needs anything, tell him we just stopped by to tell him to feel better."

Mr. Burnett raised his head suddenly, eyes boring into Raelynn's. "Like we said, he's asleep right now. No one should be bothering him. Kevin just needs time to rest."

Theo drummed his fingers against his upper arm as Raelynn continued to push for entrance into Kevin's room. "We'd only be a second, really. In and out, I pro—"

"Leave," Danny said. Theo could see the familiar glint of suspicion returning to her eyes. "If _we're_ letting Kevin be for a little bit then who are _you_ to just waltz yourself in there and see him?" Maybe they had overstayed their welcome just a little. "I said leave." She gripped her coffee a little tighter.

Raelynn felt Theo's hands on her shoulders, guiding her backwards. She took a small step, her brown eyes lingering on Danny. There had to be _something_ she could say that would convince them to let them see Kevin. She opened her mouth slightly, but the words caught in her throat. Was she choking up? That barely ever happened.

"Let's just go," Theo said in a low whisper. "We can come back to see him tomorrow."

She nodded slightly in response and forced a small smile back at Danny and Kevin's parents. "We'll let Kevin rest then. When he wakes up, tell him that we stopped by then, okay?" Without even waiting to see if they responded to her, Raelynn turned on her heel and followed Theo down the hall and out of the hospital, trying to be swift but inconspicuous.

As the muggy Florida air hit them square in the face, Raelynn inhaled sharply. She turned towards Theo. "That could've gone just a little bit better. But, hey, at least we got a little bit more information to go on, right?"

"Let's. . . go look for more clues."

* * *

><p>After picking up Theo's dog, Argos, Raelynn and Theo returned to the area near Goldenrod Road, where Kevin had initially been found. The deep golden rays of sunlight that streaked through the trees that lined the sidewalk were disheartening. "We've been looking around here <em>forever<em>," Raelynn said, throwing her hands up dramatically. "There's nothing here and it's gonna be dark soon."

Argos had his snout to the ground, sniffing along the edge of a driveway. He pulled on his leash, and Theo glanced down at his dog, petting him on his head. Theo had had Argos for a short amount of time, but he enjoyed the Xolo's company and companionship. His parents had insisted he take the dog with him to college, but since animals weren't allowed in the dorms, Argos had to stay off campus in a friend's house. His nose was always useful during an investigation. "Good boy."

"I'm being serious, Theo," Raelynn continued, dragging her feet along the weathered concrete. Another group of cars sped by as rush hour began to dwindle back into regular traffic. "There's nothing here. Nothing."

A vicious snarl filled the air. Raelynn and Theo turned towards Argos, his back arched and teeth bared. He pulled harder on the leash this time and Theo stumbled for a moment before regaining control over the dog. "Whatever Argos sees isn't nothing," he said. The dog's claws scraped against the concrete as it tried to lunge towards something. Theo followed his dog's line of sight and saw a pair of gleaming orbs nestled within the darkness of the trees. Giving Argos a bit of leeway, Theo allowed his dog to lead him and Raelynn closer to the shapes until they finally revealed their true identity.

"A cat," Raelynn said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why am I not surprised?"

Ignoring her, Theo and Argos walked towards the cat, scaring it back into the tree line. As Theo searched for another sign of the animal, something brushed up against his leg, startling him. A chorus of mews filled the air as several more pairs of eyes glowed in the darkness of the trees. "_Cats_," he corrected.

"Okay then, _cats_. Not like they matter to us anyways. Just a bunch of strays living on this empty lot." Raelynn groaned as the sun dipped further down towards the horizon. "Let's just go. There's nothing and we don't have much light left."

"I guess you're right," Theo said as he walked back towards the road. He glanced back at the cats one more time; they remained where they were, strewn on the empty lot. One of the cats yawned revealing its sharpened teeth. "Let's go, Argos."

* * *

><p>When Theo woke up the next morning, his dorm was empty. He listened for his roommates, but they were either asleep or in class. He didn't have any classes on Wednesday, but Raelynn wouldn't be out of classes until the afternoon. Going out into the kitchen, he poured some cereal into a bowl and sat down at the table in the main room. He glanced out the window as he ate, Knight's Plaza was already busy despite it being only eight o'clock. Theo wasn't used to sleeping in despite the fact that he'd been living on his own for a year now. All the conditioning his parents put him through prevented him from slacking off. Even though he didn't pick soccer back up when they moved down for college, he couldn't stand staying still.<p>

A tone rang throughout the dorm, breaking Theo's train of thought. He had finished his cereal, so he made his way towards his room, dropping the empty bowl in the kitchen sink.

_What are you up to? _It was Raelynn.

_Nothing much. Just ate breakfast. _He texted back.

_Well I'm getting ready for class, so maybe you can go back and investigate that empty lot? Actually, I think you should just do an overall investigation of the area._

_What about you?_

_I'm thinking of going back to the hospital. I might be able to sneak into his room. Get a word out of him? Maybe he's not as crazy as he was yesterday._

Theo hesitated before he wrote back. They still didn't have a clue whether this was a job down their alley or if Kevin was just a regular nutcase. Still, he didn't like sending Raelynn on her own. She was definitely capable, but it'd been a while since they'd been on a hunt.

_Alright. Be careful. I'll see you later._

_C ya!_

By the time Theo got ready to leave, Jared and Mark were up watching T.V. and eating breakfast. "Mornin'," Mark said with a waffle-filled mouth. "Where you going?"

"Out," Theo said. "Going over to see Argos. I don't have any classes today, so I'll probably spend the rest of the day out."

"Nice. I still have two more classes today. Shouldn't be too bad though."

"Good luck," Theo made his way towards the entrance. "I'll see you guys later."

"See ya," Jared said, and Mark grunted as he chewed on another piece of waffle.

Theo never liked taking the elevators; they were too inefficient, and he was too impatient. He crossed the hall and took the stairs down. Making his way out the building and into the u-shaped courtyard, he looked over to the adjacent Tower and wondered if Raelynn had already left for class. She should be alright by herself. The hospital is full of people, so there shouldn't be any problems.

* * *

><p>Theo could hear Argos' barking as he pulled up the driveway. He didn't like leaving Argos, but UCF didn't allow pets, no matter how much he asked. Luckily his parents had some hunting friends that had no problem keeping watch over Argos. Theo and Raelynn usually spent any time free of studying over at Mike's house. He enjoyed listening to the stories Mike told about his hunting days, and Rae liked to skim through the journals he filled with all kinds of creatures and lore.<p>

The door to the worn down home flew open and Argos sped up to the car before Theo even stepped out.

"You spending the day?" Mike called from the entrance.

"Nah," Theodore said. "I'm just picking up Argos for a walk."

Argos jumped into the Jeep as soon as Theo opened the door. Theo petted the dog's head warm leathery head. "Hey, boy, you up for a walk?"

"I know what that means boy," Mike said again. "You don't take that pup out with you unless you're in a hunt."

"That's not true," Theo lied, but by the look on Mike's face, it wasn't that convincing.

"Just be careful. Your parents have told me about your. . . tendencies."

_Of course they have._ "See you Mike," Theo said, closing the door and shifting the gear to reverse.

He drove down University Boulevard—the streets packed with students driving towards campus—with Argos sticking his head out the window. "Let's see if we can find out what happened to Kevin today, boy?" Argos turned towards Theo stared, almost as if he understood his owner, but returned his attention back towards the window as they drove past a man flipping an arrow-shaped sign.

Theo turned onto Goldenrod Road and drove down a bit, pulling into a plaza to the left. He parked his car and stepped out into the lot. There weren't many cars there; whatever few cars there were, were parked by the Publix. He walked around the car to where Argos was waiting eagerly to be let out. He opened the door to the passenger seat and the dog leaped out. He didn't bother putting his leash on. Argos had always been obedient. "Let's go, boy."

The searching had been as fruitless as the day before. Theo went back to the area that Kevin had been found wandering by, but he didn't find anything aside from a clowder of cat near an empty lot. He told Argos to ignore them, but he seemed fixated on them. Theo brushed it off and decided to walk further down as Raelynn had suggested. There was nothing. Argos lifted his leg here and there, marking his territory. He sniffed around but didn't seem to find anything at all suspicious. The place seemed to be infested with cats. Argos would growl, leading Theo to believe he had found something only to see another stray cat hiding in the shadows.

"Here kitty," Theo bent down and called, but all the cat did was stare back. All of a sudden something frightened the cat and it bolted farther down the road. Theo got up and watched it climb up a tree.

At the end of the sidewalk, Theodore finally found something worth something. It was perfect for his blog. Argos had come up to a thin tree and got up on his hind legs to mess with something hanging from its branches. As Theo approached, he saw a regular house key tied to a piece of rope hanging from one of the branches. "What are you, a cat?" he teased Argos. He pulled out his phone and took a picture of the key, then looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was around and pulled out a hunting knife. He cut the rope holding the key and stuffed it in his pocket. "I'll make it into a necklace for Rae. She usually likes quirky stuff like that, doesn't she, boy?" Argos barked and continued moving forward.

Finally, after reaching a veterinary hospital down the road from where Kevin was found, Theo decided it was best to head back. He checked his phone. It was one o'clock in the afternoon. He wondered if Raelynn had left for the hospital already. "Let's head back, Argos. We can get something to eat along the way." But Argos kept walking. "Argos, c'mon, boy." Argos ignored Theo as he crossed the street toward the veterinary hospital. Theo knew what this meant. Argos had picked up a scent, and he wouldn't stop until he found its source. Theo looked around for any cars and followed his dog across the street. Argos continued walking past the vet and down a bike path just behind it. Theo spotted something up ahead before Argos could lead him to what he found. He was sure that his nose was leading them in the same direction as the clowder of cats up ahead. At first, Theo thought it was nothing, but the cats were surrounding something. Moving closer, Theo startled the cats and they scattered. He went over to where they were standing and found out why they were all crowded around the spot. There was another cat laying on the paving, motionless. Argos sat by Theo and wagged his tail in triumph. "Good job, boy. You got our first clue." The cat was dead. Actually, it had been killed. Gutted. There were many creatures that enjoyed killing animals for sport, but at least now Theo knew that Kevin's ordeal wasn't a normal one.

It was supernatural.

* * *

><p>Raelynn stood along the side of the hospital, feeling a bit more nervous than she had expected. She'd parked at the Starbucks nearby and walked over to try avoid anymore suspicion. No need for anyone to know that she had come back. <em>Alone<em>, her thoughts echoed, but she pushed them away. She didn't need Theo around to help her all the time. They'd been hunting together for a few years now. She could take care of herself.

Wasting no more time, Raelynn pulled the beanie she was wearing down further. An attempt to disguise herself which was pretty pathetic now that she thought about it. She checked the time on her phone and smiled. The nurses would be changing shifts at the front desk now.

As she waltzed inside the back doors of the building, she saw the desk was empty. She had only a few seconds now. Walking too fast to be normal, Raelynn made a beeline for the left hallway, only stopping to collect her worried breaths when she felt far enough away from the nurses.

Lucky for her though, Kevin's parents and girlfriend weren't lurking outside of his room today. _Just hope they aren't _inside _the room. _It was now or never. They needed answers. Raelynn grabbed the doorknob of room 103 and turned it, pushing the door open.

Kevin was the only person in the room, staring wide eyed at the ceiling as Raelynn closed the door quietly behind her. The beeping of a heart monitor was the only ambiance. Cautiously, she walked over towards Kevin's bed and his dark eyes flickered towards her.

She froze at the foot of the bed and cleared her throat. "Hi there. I'm Rae," she said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. Ask about. . . if you remember what happened the other night. Why are you here?"

"Nina." It came out as nothing more than a whimper and Raelynn moved around to the side of Kevin's bed now. "It was Nina," he repeated, a bit louder this time. "They were waiting and waiting for her. Then she came and. . ."

The beeping of the heart monitor sped up and Raelynn was feeling a bit jittery. "I-It's okay though. Nina isn't here. I promise. Just calm down." If his heart rate increased too much, an alarm would go off at the nurses' station and they would come to check up on him. "Is there anything else you remember?"

"Wait until Nina comes!" The shout was pained and blood curdling. Raelynn flinched as the sound of the heart monitor and Kevin's shrieks mixed into an unpleasant chorus. Faster and faster, louder and louder. He grabbed the pillow from behind his head and planted it firmly against his face, muffling himself.

Raelynn lunged towards him, trying to pull the pillow from his grip, but it was like steel. The screams were getting quieter now and she glanced over at the monitor, seeing the last thing she wanted to see. Kevin's heart rate was dropping too quickly. "Kevin, stop," she said in her slight panic, still pulling as hard as she could on the pillow. "This isn't helping anything. You're going to die if you keep this up."

_Beep. _Raelynn was trying to find something in the room that could help her. She wanted to call a nurse to come help, but then she'd be busted. _Beep. _His breathing was extremely shallow now and Raelynn felt her own heart beating like the wings of a hummingbird. Kevin couldn't just. . .

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep._

Flatline. Raelynn pulled against the pillow now and it was freed from Kevin's grip. His glassy, lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling. She saw fright etched into every single facial feature and a shiver ran up her spine. People didn't just go from normal to psychotic over the course of a day without a reason. This seemed to be something she and Theo were seasoned to handle, but what where they dealing with?

As she took one more sparing glance at the man who had just been alive a few minutes ago, Raelynn saw something odd. A small, canvas bag no bigger than Argos' paw was sticking out of Kevin's jean pocket. She went to reach for it, but stopped. It could be dangerous. Removing the pillow case from the pillow, Raelynn slipped it on like a glove and pulled the bag from Kevin's body.

The ribbon that tied it shut was frayed, but Raelynn held it tight and quickly reached down into her pocket with a free hand, grabbing her cell phone. She snapped a few pictures of the object before replacing it and removing the pillow case from her arm. _Someone just died_.

Hurried footsteps echoed from outside in the hall. "It was from Kevin Burnett's room," said a stern voice. "I'm calling a code red. Let's get in there right now!"

Raelynn froze. The nurses had heard all the commotion. Time seemed to slow down as everything slowly dawned on her. She wasn't suppose to be at the hospital. And now she was going to be the only suspect at the scene of a death.


	3. Nina Arrives

Chapter Three: Nina Arrives

Theo sat on the couch in his dorm, flipping through channels until he finally stopped on Cartoon Network. One thing that he came to like about settling down from hunting—partially settling down anyway—was all of the new things that he got to experience. Yeah, he could have watched T.V. while he traveled with his parents, but it wasn't the same. They would always have to leave in the middle of a show for a hunt, and it was impossible to catch up with everything that came with the job, so he never really bothered. It was mostly training and studying out of his father's journal. Not that he hated training, but studying had never been one of his strengths.

Television was one of the first joys he experienced after his parents finally settled down. He didn't need friends to watch cartoons, though it was more fun with them around, so it was easy for him to obsess over them. At first he thought that he wouldn't be accepted for liking kids shows, he was a bit of a late bloomer when it came down to it all, but going to high school proved his assumptions wrong. There was no shame in watching Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. Soon enough his new friends taught him about the wonders of anime as well.

"Man, I've already seen this," Jared said. "I wish it was Thursday already. I can't wait for the new episode of Regular Show."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to the new Steven Universe, but this episode isn't too bad. Robin's hilarious in it," said Theo.

The dorm's lock clicked and Mark walked in holding a Jimmy John's bag. "Dinner is served," he said. Theo got up and moved to the table while Jared went towards his room to call Jensen. The four of them usually pooled their money together for dinner, and today they decided that they all wanted subs. They weren't always in agreement; sometimes it would take them a while to settle the feud over what to eat for dinner, but by the end of it, they would all be appeased. Food was food.

As Jensen and Jared joined Mark and Theo at their small square table, the group discussed how their day had been. For some of them, today had been their first day in a certain class. It was only natural to judge a professor from their first lecture. They sometimes put bets on whose professor was crazier; Theo won his first semester when his English professor blew up on a student halfway through the term.

"All my teachers seem okay so far," Jensen said. "No crazies this semester."

"Yeah," Theo added. "I think that the deeper we get into our majors, the cooler our professors seem."

"Speak for yourself," Mark said. "I'm pretty sure my professor smoked some pot before his lecture. He was completely out of it."

After they finished eating, Jared and Mark went back to their rooms. "I have homework due already," Mark said. "I should probably get started."

"Yeah, me too," said Jared.

"I've finished," Jensen said. "I hate doing homework at night. I don't have the attention for it, so I finished."

"We know," Mark said exasperatedly, and stormed down the hall towards his room. Both Theo and Jared chuckled, then Jared said good night and disappeared down the other hallway.

"One of my teachers told me to check the news for next class," Jensen said. "You don't mind if I change channels real quick, do you?"

"No. It's no problem at all." Theo sat down on the sofa.

"Cool."

The numbers on the television flickered as the pleasing candy colored visuals of animation were replaced with reality. Jensen rested the remote control back on the coffee table and gave a drawn out sigh. The reporter on the screen stared fixedly at the camera, a bout of silence passing before he spoke. "Tragic news regarding the man that was found roaming along Goldenrod Road yesterday morning. Kevin Burnett died today at Winter Park Memorial Hospital at the age of twenty-one. Doctors say it was nothing more than cardiac arrest, but they were not inclined to release any more information. Kevin's parents have refused to comment on the death and a date for a funeral has not been arranged as of yet."

"Hey, that was the whack job that was on the news yesterday morning too," Jensen said, slumping farther down on the couch. "That was one thing I never really liked about watching the news. Everything is just death, death, and more death."

Theo could hear his roommate talking, but he wasn't able to comprehend much of it. He felt cold and jittery, anxiety slowly taking over. "I just remembered that I have some stuff to work on too," he said, standing up from the couch and excusing himself from the room. His pace quickened as he walked down the hallway that led to his bedroom and shut the door behind him as he entered.

Kevin was dead.

Without wasting another second, Theo grabbed his phone and checked it. No missed calls. No text messages. "Rae. . ." Theo highlighted Raelynn's number and waited with bated breath as the ringing droned on. Her voice mail answered. Theo tried again, pacing back and forth near the foot of his bed. Voice mail. "Raelynn, pick up." He tore the phone away from his ear and switched to his text messages, continuing the thread that he and Raelynn had started earlier. Her last text glared at him.

_C ya!_

His fingers drummed along the touch screen. _Raelynn, where are you?_

Time felt as if it were passing slowly. Theo glanced at the clock in the corner of the screen. Ten minutes had passed. Then fifteen. Then twenty. What if something had happened to her? _Rae, I saw the news. Are you okay? Please, answer me._

Knocking came from his door and Theo tried to collect himself before he answered it. There was no need to panic his roommates about anything that didn't concern them. As Theo turned the knob and opened the door, he came face to face with Jensen.

"Sorry to bug you, but Raelynn's here to see you," he said, stepping aside and revealing the girl. She gave Theo a small wave. "I told her you were busy with homework, but—"

"No, it's fine," Theo said, his eyes growing wide. He grabbed Raelynn's arm and pulled her into his room. "Thanks for letting her in. She's going to help me with my stuff." With that, Theo closed the door once more.

An anxious quiet filled the room as the two friends stared at each other. Well, quiet was the wrong term since both Raelynn and Theo attempted to talk, but only ended up interrupting each other instead.

"Where—" Theo started.

"I—" she said in unison.

They tried talking for a couple more seconds, but it all ended up quite the same. Neither one of the two could get a word in. Too much had happened, and there was too much to talk about.

"Theo—" Raelynn tried to lead the conversation, but was cut short as Theo pulled her into an embrace.

It took moments like these for Raelynn to remember Theo wasn't just her friend, her confidante. He was a boy, and not a bad looking one at that. He had been with her for so long now that she often disregarded everything else. She talked to him about everything—mostly everything—and he was always the first person she'd go to when in need of help. His muscles tightened around her, and his head buried further into her shoulder. Her arms rose by themselves and fastened around him. She hadn't noticed how anxious she had been. Only now did she realize that she was shaking. Or was that Theo?

The two hugged in silence. There was no need to speak. They were there, and they were safe. A serene warmth filled the space and the two finally pulled apart, more relaxed then they were before.

"So," Theo said, breaking the silence, his honey colored cheeks rosy. "What happened?"

"Kevin died," she said grimly. "He—"

"I know. It was on the news. They said he died of a heart attack—"

"Well, they lied. He killed himself, Teddy," her voice shook for a brief second. Raelynn rarely called him Teddy. It was all Theodore could do from hugging her again. "He killed himself right in front of me. And I. . . I couldn't do anything."

Theodore watched as his friend looked past him, out the window of his room and into the courtyard's night sky. "How?" was all he could say.

"He suffocated himself," her voice was serious again. "It was quick. Before I knew it he had flat-lined. I. . . I panicked. I didn't know what to do. The nurses were gonna be inside any second—" She took a deep breath and remained quiet.

"What did you do?" Theodore said. "Why didn't you answer any of my calls?"

Raelynn took her phone out of her pocket and looked at it as if it were something she'd never seen before. "I hid in the bathroom," she said, looking back up at Theodore. "There was a bathroom in his room. I ran straight for it and stayed there until just about an hour ago. I was lucky, Theo. Nobody went in the bathroom. It was all pure luck. I left as quickly as I could and came straight here. A nurse saw me walking down the hallway and told me visiting hours were over. I apologized, but nobody else saw me."

Silence filled the room again. Theodore moved to comfort Raelynn. He placed his hand on her arm and smiled reassuringly. The smile she gave him was tight, like she could barely hold on. "I did find something though," she said, pulling her phone up to her face. Theo watched as she scrolled through her pictures and finally turned the screen towards him. "What do you think?"

Theodore studied the picture of a small brown pouch. It was tied at the top with a black ribbon and strange markings were engraved on its side. "I don't know, but it looks familiar. I'm pretty sure I've seen something like this before. Back when I hunted with my parents." Theodore closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He could see the small pouch, but he just couldn't remember. He opened his eyes. Raelynn had now seated herself on his bed and stared up at him.

"Anything?"

"No."

Theodore moved towards the window on the right corner of his room where a small wooden desk faced the darkness outside. Theo looked out; there were a few windows lit up on the opposite side of the u-shaped building. He turned back towards his desk and picked up a leather bound book from beneath a couple sheets of paper. The word "Journal" was written on it in print. He opened the book and began skimming through the pages. Finally, he came to a stop about one fourth of the way through. "I knew I'd seen it before. It's a hex bag."

"Hex bag?"

"Yeah," he said, turning the journal around in his hand and giving it to Raelynn. "Here, take a look."

She grabbed the book from her friend and looked down at a crudely drawn picture of a small sack, tied off at the top. Though the sketch looked similar to the object she'd seen, Raelynn noticed that the markings between the two bags were very different. She turned back to her phone and took another good look at it before she read the sparing text underneath the sketch of the hex bag. "Hex bags are used by witches to place curses on humans, animals, or other creatures." Sighing, she turned her brown eyes on Theo. "That's. . . that's all you have about hex bags then? The next thing in your journal is about. . . Wendigos."

"That's all I have." Theo took the journal back from Raelynn and thumbed through some of the remaining pages. "I copied down what I thought was important enough from my parents' journal before I left. I remember my parents actually going on a hunt that involved hex bags before, but I didn't go with them, so I didn't really learn much.

Nodding slowly, Raelynn turned her eyes towards the window and stared out into the darkness of the night. "Well, at least we know we might be dealing with witches," she said. "Did _you_ find anything interesting today?"

"There was a dead cat." Theo closed his journal and tossed it back onto his desk where it landed with a soft thud. "It was back near the animal hospital, not too far from where Kevin was initially found. It had been gutted, which is really weird."

"Like I said, probably witches. There's nothing we can really do about any of this right now though." Raelynn stood up from Theo's bed and stretched her arms. "I can look into it all a little bit more tomorrow. Go to the library and kinda look through the occult section for any reading material. Right now. . . I just really want to go to sleep." It felt like invisible weights were slowly dragging her eyelids down. "It's late."

Theo crossed his room and opened the door, gesturing for Raelynn to make her exit. She obliged and headed down the hallway to the darkened living room. "Looks like everyone else already went to bed," Theo said, flipping a switch. Soft light filled the room as the ceiling fixture buzzed. He rested his hand on the knob to the front door, feeling Raelynn's presence behind him. Before opening the door, he turned and pulled her close to him, feeling her muscles stiffen in shock. "I'm really glad you're okay," he said. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

"I won't. I promise."

The two broke apart and Theo opened the door, watching as Raelynn exited and gave him a small smile before she disappeared down the end of the corridor.

* * *

><p>"I think I'm gonna get a croissant today," Raelynn said, tossing her wallet back and forth from hand to hand. "Or maybe. . . no, definitely a croissant."<p>

Theo stood in front of her, eyeing the pastries and other food behind the rounded glass display. Ever since the school had decided to build a Starbucks close to the dorms, grabbing food before class had become much easier. "Get whatever you want."

The door to the cafe opened and Theo could hear the chorus of voices from the group that had just walked inside. Sounded like the breakfast rush was going to start a little earlier today. He heard a cashier call for the next available person in line and hastily ordered his food.

"They gave me a cheese danish," Raelynn said. She couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. "They messed it all up, even though I _asked_ for a croissant." She stood next to Theo, angrily taking a huge bite out of the pastry. "If they give me the wrong drink too, I swear I'm gonna lose it." She watched the baristas vigilantly, making sure that everything was going accordingly.

Theo watched as the group that had entered after them ordered their drinks and joined them in the nonsensical mess of a waiting area. One girl and three guys. They all appeared to be of Native American descent, their darkened skin complimenting their dark hair. He'd seen and dealt with Native Americans before on some of his family's hunts. They always seemed to be in tune with the spirits and creatures around them. Much more so than a lot of other people.

"He keeps staring," said one of the guys, lowering his voice.

The girl moved her long hair to form a curtain between her line of sight and Theo, raising an eyebrow. "I've noticed that too." Not wasting any more time, the girl led her posse over towards Theo, giving a grin. "Well, hello there."

"I got your drink for you, Theo," Raelynn said, coming back from the counter with two drinks in her hands and a pastry bag tucked underneath her right arm. She saw the group of people she didn't recognize standing around Theo and pushed her way towards him, handing him the latte and danish he had ordered. "Here you go. And. . . who are your friends?"

"Theo? That's a cute name," the girl purred. "So, _Theo_, see anything you like?" The rest of her pack remained quiet as their leader surveyed Theo, completely ignoring Raelynn's arrival.

Raelynn moved forward, blocking the new girl's view of Theo. "I like your necklace," she said, her voice spiked with venom. The girl's lackeys' eyes widened for a second, but she seemed unfazed by Raelynn's comment.

"Thanks," she said, playing with the necklace—a small white paw of some sort—but her attention was still on Theo who stood behind his friend awkwardly. Raelynn felt her face burning up.

"You—" she said.

"I'll catch you later, Theo," the other girl said, cutting off Raelynn's words. Her attention had suddenly shifted towards the exit—she wasn't even looking at Theo as she walked away, her posse following her.

_That's right. You better run,_ Raelynn thought. Just then, the girl bumped into someone who had just walked in. It was one of Raelynn's classmates, and those jerks didn't even stop to apologize. _Bitch. . ._

* * *

><p>Raelynn's class wasn't even halfway done and she'd already begun to wish that she was dead. She wondered what was worse: four hours of organic chemistry or three hours of journalism? Definitely journalism.<p>

As the professor droned on about electron structure and orbitals, Raelynn imagined what it'd be like to sit in Theo's journalism class. She chuckled to herself as she pictured an old balding man discussing how fun formatting was when movement near the front of the class caught her attention. The entire class had gone quiet, eyes focused on a girl sitting in the second row.

"Yes, miss?" her professor said. "Is there something I can help you with?"

The girl whispered something, but Raelynn was too far away to hear. Even the professor hadn't heard what she said. "Could you say that again?"

The girl moved from her seat, towards the professor. "I'm going to have to ask you to take your seat," he said with a hint of panic. A few students were snickering and murmuring to each other, but Raelynn didn't find what was happening funny at all.

"Young lady," the professor's voice deepened. "Go back to your seat or—"

The girl reached the whiteboard. She grabbed the marker out of her professor's hand and began scribbling. At this point, the room was silent again.

"Isn't she taking this a bit too far?" someone said nearby. The whispers had changed to ones of suppressed hysteria. Everyone waited for the girl to move away from the board. What was she writing? Raelynn caught a glimpse of the word "comes." The girl dropped the marker causing everyone to flinch simultaneously. She began walking back and it wasn't until she was seated that Raelynn looked over at the board once more.

**Wait until Nina comes.**

It was scrawled over the professor's notes. The entire room was reading the text, trying to decipher it. Raelynn's blood ran cold in her veins.

A blood curdling scream escaped the girl's mouth as she began banging and thrashing on her desk. "Nina's coming! She's coming for all of us!" A few students tried to hold her down, but she was uncharacteristically strong.

"She's here!" the girl was laughing hysterically. "Nina's arrived, and you're next!"

Raelynn's eyes shifted around the room. She felt like she should run and try to calm the girl down, but a small voice in the back of her mind held her back. _You couldn't save Kevin. What makes you think you could help _her_ out? _She stood regardless, hands braced against the long, wooden table in front of her. Several of the kids sitting around her were gawking at the sight too. The professor was on the phone, his facial expression one of fear and confusion. _This is a disaster, _Raelynn thought, her brown eyes wide.

Minutes ticked by slowly, stretching on for an eternity. The girl was thrashing, still fighting the classmates that were trying to calm her down. The doors to the lecture hall opened with a bang, breaking Raelynn's focus. Two men in police uniforms has entered the room and hurriedly made their way down the stairs, heading towards the commotion. "Everybody out," one of them shouted, eyes narrowed.

Chaos broke out. Hundreds of kids, more than happy to cut a day of organic chemistry short, blocked the stairs and flooded out of the double doors slowly. Raelynn threw her notebook, pencil, and calculator into her backpack and took one more sparing glance back at her classmate. Though the view was blocked by the bodies of the officers, Raelynn could still hear the girl's grating voice echoing through the room. A shiver ran down her spine

"Just grab her and we'll take her to the hospital," one of the officers said. "An ambulance should be on its way already."

The doorway to the lecture hall was almost entirely empty now, all of the other students having already pushed their way out into the main lobby area of the Mathematical Sciences building. Groaning, Raelynn cut her way back towards the staircase that no one ever seemed to use. She ended up down on the second floor and exited the building, a sudden gust of chilled air nipping at her face.

Her heart was pounding as she lingered around the exterior of the building, trying to preoccupy herself with people watching while waiting for an appearance by any other officers or medical personnel. _Not like any of you could help anyways_.

"Stop her!"

Raelynn raised her head and watched the girl from her class sprint by, a crazed gleam in her eyes. Soon after, the police officers that had arrived to help were running after her, chasing her down to the parking lot that lay just beyond the reaches of the Reflection Pond. Raelynn's eyes casually focused on the situation, trying to act as if she wasn't really paying attention to it when, in reality, it was the most important thing to her right now. It was obvious that whatever was happening wasn't isolated and people were going to—

The sound of brakes squealing and a loud thud filled the otherwise silent air. _Die_, Raelynn finished in her head, immediately moving to join a group of other students that had seen the exact same thing. It was easier to blend in now and she wouldn't have to act oblivious to the situation.

The officers approached the car and the body cautiously, but from what Raelynn could see, it didn't look like her classmate was moving at all. She watched one of the men take a knee next to her and grab her wrist, though seconds later he was cursing. _People are going to die._ Raelynn backed away from everything slowly, her heart pounding. This girl. . . she had killed herself much sooner than Kevin had. What did it mean?

_Crunch._

Looking down, Raelynn saw her foot laying atop something she had hoped to never see again. A hex bag. The same color as the one she had found on Kevin, with identical intricate designs along the ribbon that tied the bag closed. "You've got to be kidding me," she said with a sigh, removing the jacket she had been wearing and using it to scoop up the object. She wasn't going to take any chances with it. However, if she and Theo were going to get to the bottom of what was happening, they might need to look at it closer.

* * *

><p>Theo exited the Health and Public Affairs building with the rest of his class, eyes glued to the ground. At least he didn't have to worry about his essay being due this Thursday. The professor had decided to push the due date back until next week, giving him more time to think up a better thesis. There was an odd sensation that washed over him and he turned his cobalt eyes to the left, immediately making eye contact with someone he didn't expect to see. "Raelynn?" Theo made his way over to her, noting the uncharacteristic stiffness in her posture as she sat on a nearby bench. "Rae, what are you doing here? We usually meet in—"<p>

"The Union, yeah, I know," Raelynn said, drumming her fingers against the wadded up material that was her jacket. "We need to talk about _this_." She slowly opened up the jacket and let Theo see the object that rested within. "Yeah, it's what you think it is," she said with a condescending look. "A girl in my class _freaked out_ about all of this Nina nonsense and _ran out in front of a freakin' car_." She took a second to collect herself and breathe. "It was probably the most exciting thing that has happened or _will_ _happen_ for the rest of the semester though, so there's that."

"This isn't a joke," Theo said.

Shrouding the hex bag with the sleeves of her jacket, Raelynn huffed and stood up. "I know it's not, but. . . I'm stressed here, Theo. Sometimes I just stay stuff. Anyways, we can't postpone this anymore. We need to go to the library _now_."

* * *

><p>The library seemed to be more packed than usual. It took Raelynn and Theo longer than they wanted to find a place to sit down, so eventually they settled with getting a study room up on the fourth floor.<p>

"It's better to be secluded anyways," Raelynn said. "We wouldn't want people overhearing talk about witches and curses. They would think we're crazy."

"Yeah, I guess," Theo said.

The two made their way up to the fourth floor silently. Theo didn't exactly know what to say to Raelynn. She had just watched two people die within the span of a single day. It's not like it was the first time she had witnessed a death, but that didn't make matters easier. Theo remembered the first time they had gone on a hunt together. He ended up having to kill a shifter right in front of Raelynn. Sure, it wasn't human, but it still looked like it from Rae's point of view.

"We only have two hours in the room," Raelynn said, breaking Theo's train of thought. "But, we can probably get a key to a room through your name, and repeat the process if we need more time."

"Got it," Theo said, dreading the hours of research ahead.

They finally arrived on the fourth floor and began weaving through the bookshelves, to the very back where the study room was hidden. There was small wooden table in the room, big enough to seat five people. Raelynn and Theo put their stuff down and pulled out their laptops from their bags. Soon enough, the only sound that echoed through the room was the sound of keys typing.

"Hmm," Theo said. "It says here that for witches to place a curse on someone, they need something of theirs. A hair, a nail, some clothing. What's in the hex bag?"

Raelynn picked up the small canvas bag from its spot by her computer and began untying the black ribbon holding it together. "Ugh," she said as she got a look at the contents. "How did we not smell this before?" The inside of the fabric was stained with blood. There was something squishy looking that Raelynn didn't want to touch. "Here, you take it," she said with disgust.

Theo grabbed the open hex bag from his friend and studied it closely. "That's definitely hair. What's this red stuff?"

"Ew! Don't touch it, Theo!"

He leaned in and smelled the contents. "That's where the smell is definitely coming from. I think it might be the source of the blood too. May be entrails of some sort. Definitely from a small animal."

Raelynn's eyes lit up with realization. In no time at all, she was typing away furiously at her keyboard. "Got it!"

"What?" Theo's confusion was evident.

"The cat you found," Raelynn waited, but the look on Theo's face was still muddled. "You said it was gutted." She looked back at the screen and began reading. "It says here that witches use animal remains when placing a hex on someone. The fresher, the better. What else is in the bag?"

"Some dust, a broken shard of something, and small bones. Probably a rat's."

Raelynn nodded to herself as she continued to read off the site. "When placing a hex, it is good to place something sharp in the bag and it's important to sprinkle. . . Goofer dust?" She looked up, suddenly confused again. "What's Goofer dust?"

"I'm not really sure what it's made of. It's some kind of hoodoo thing. My parents mentioned it once, but I didn't really pay attention."

"Damn it, Theo," Raelynn said.

"Sorry, but everything else makes sense—"

"No, it doesn't," said Raelynn. "At least not the hair part. The girl from my class was acting completely normal up until she lost it. Kevin was basically catatonic until he died. So why wasn't she cuckoo before class? You don't think the witch could be in my class, do you?"

"She could be, or she could have placed it on her before and only have activated it during class."

"Yeah. . ." Raelynn said. "But, why?"

"What do you mean?" said Theo.

"Why are they doing this? Whoever it is. What's their motive?"

"Monsters don't need a motive, Rae."

"Yes, Theo, they do. Everything we've dealt with up until now, they've all had some kind of motive. Or, at least followed some kind of pattern. What's the pattern here?"

"I don't know," he said.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours had passed by, but they still hadn't found anything that seemed to connect Kevin and Raelynn's classmate. Raelynn tried searching into past deaths with similar outcomes, but none of it paid off. At least now they definitely knew what they were dealing with.<p>

"The two hours are up," Theo said. "It's your turn to ask for a room."

"Alright," Raelynn said. "You go down ahead of me, and I'll follow."

"I can't believe they haven't caught us," he said with a laugh. "We've already asked for a study room twice now."

"I'm sure they're not too serious about it. For all they know, we could actually just be studying."

"For what? The first week of classes isn't even over yet."

"Just go, Theo."

They had been at it for four hours and Theo couldn't take much research. He had never been the type to sit down and study. He had always preferred physical training with his parents. Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Theo waited for Raelynn to catch up to him.

"What are you doing, Theo?" she asked with a hint of worry.

"I think I'm gonna head out. I haven't seen Argos yet today."

"Alright," Raelynn said. She knew that he had reached his limit. "I'll still ask for the room to do a bit more research. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Say 'hi' to Argos for me."

* * *

><p>Argos stuck his head out of the car as Theo drove back towards the area where Kevin was found. He parked in the same plaza he had before. It was fuller today, probably because it was nearing the end of the week. It had still been light out when he left the library, but whatever remained was now engulfed by the darkness.<p>

"Let's go, boy," Theo said.

Argos barked in response.

The two walked in silence. Argos stopped and sniffed, an indication that he was about to pee. He lifted his leg on cue. While the dog did his business, Theo looked around. The empty lot that had been full of cats stood on the other side of the road. He squinted, but could see nothing past the shrubbery and trees that hid the house from sight.

Argos pulled on his leash, breaking Theo's focus. "Alright, alright. I'm coming."

The two made their way back towards the animal hospital where they had found the cat's corpse—Argos made two pit stops along the way.

"Let's see if you can find anything today, boy."

There was nothing. The bike trail was empty and dark. Argos had growled at some cats, but there were no more corpses to be found. "Let's head back then. It's my turn to get dinner today."

Argos barked.

As they walked back past the animal hospital, Theo watched the people moving inside the windows. _Working at an animal hospital would be a perfect disguise_, he thought. But he decided to keep on moving.

As he approached the Publix plaza where he had parked, Theo stopped one more time to take a look at the empty lot. There was a faint light coming from the depths of the space, and he could just make out the outline of a house and a car. Movement near the entrance of the trees caught his attention. A pair of glowing eyes stared at him from across the street.

Argos growled as Theo began making his way towards the empty lot. He didn't even bother looking for cars as he crossed the street. The growling continued, and soon Argos began pulling back on his leash.

_One look won't hurt_, Theo thought.

He was at the edge of the lot now, his attention solely focused on the house that lay deeper within the trees. Argos pulled harder against his leash, vision bouncing from one set of glaring eyes to another. Two pairs. Then five pairs. Ten pairs. Cats hissed and purred in an odd chorus, aggravating Argos further. "Hush, boy," Theo said, absentmindedly patting his dog's head before venturing farther down the driveway that was almost completely obscured by fallen leaves.

The house. . . there hadn't been a light on any other time he'd passed, had there? _It's nice inside_. Theo barely heard the crunching of the dead foliage underneath his feet as the house grew closer. He walked around a large tree that had erupted out of the broken concrete. _It's warm inside_. Well. . . it always _did_ get a little chillier outside in the few days following a rainstorm. Theo shivered involuntarily and Argos let out a throaty growl which his owner continued to ignore. _Come inside._

His hand wavered near the doorknob and Theo took a quick glance at the window closest to him. It didn't look like there was anyone inside from what he could see. What would it hurt to take a quick peek? The house was in the area where Kevin had been found and Raelynn _did_ say they needed to try and find a motive behind the killings. There could be clues in the house. "In and out," Theo said, resting his hand against the cold knob. Argos started barking relentlessly, his vocals being thrown in every direction.

As Theo turned the doorknob and opened the door, he didn't notice that his dog had fallen eerily silent.

"In and out."


	4. Wait Until Nina Dies (Part One)

Chapter Four: Wait Until Nina Dies (Part One)

"Where is he?" Raelynn said, pacing back and forth near a bench in Tower 3's courtyard. She pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. It was nine o'clock. Theo had never been late before. In high school, he'd be up texting Raelynn before her alarm even went off. Eventually, she stopped setting her alarm and simply relied on Theo as her wake up call.

But, he hadn't texted her this morning.

He hadn't texted her last night either. Nothing could have happened to him. . . right? She didn't want to wait to find out. Gathering her stuff from the bench, Raelynn walked up to Tower 3 and knocked on the glass door despite the sign that advised her not to. A girl stepped out from the elevator just in time. She was wearing a black Snapback that had a pair of eyes on its crown. It reminded Raelynn of a ninja's mask. The girl noticed Raelynn and looked around before pushing the door open.

"Thank you," Raelynn said. "I like your hat."

The girl's eyes brightened suddenly. "Thanks!" she said, and she was off.

Raelynn watched as the girl walked across the lobby and exited the building before she rushed over to the nearby elevators and began pressing the button that lay between them. The iridescent light behind the 'up' button vanished as the doors to the elevator opened and Raelynn rushed inside, jabbing the button to third floor. She feverishly paced the small confines of the elevator as it rose.

As the doors finally opened, Raelynn pushed her way out impatiently, bumping into a couple of girls that had been waiting to board the contraption. "Sorry," Raelynn said under her breath, quickly turning the corner and heading straight towards Theo's dorm. She hadn't realized how labored her breathing was until she knocked on the door and waited. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mooooon," Raelynn said, tapping her foot to the pounding rhythm of her own heart.

The door opened and Raelynn looked up to see Mark's face. "Oh, uh, hi," Mark said, leaning up against the door frame. "What brings you here?"

"Theo," Raelynn said, her eyes wide as she tried to fully compose herself. She cleared her throat before she continued. "Is he here? Did he oversleep?" _Of course he didn't oversleep_, she thought. _He wouldn't be so careless_.

"I didn't see him come back last night," Mark said. "We almost starved to death because it was his night to bring us all dinner." The look on Mark's face told Raelynn that he was a little bitter about the situation. "He might have come in after we all went to bed, but I'm not so sure. He's usually up and out before any of us. Not to mention his food is still there from last night." He gestured towards the square table near the back of the small living room.

She had to stay calm, had to think positive. "Oh, well, thanks," she said, forcing a smile. "If you do see him, will you tell him I stopped by?"

"Yeah, of course," Mark said, giving a nod before closing the door.

_He's fine. Theo's fine._ Raelynn made her way back down the hall, choosing to take the stairs back to the lobby. She'd already upset enough people on the elevator. Raelynn's stomach growled at her, reminding her that she still hadn't eaten yet. Theo or no Theo, she still had to get some food. _I won't let him hear the end of this when he finally shows up. . ._

* * *

><p>The light streaming into the room caressed Theo's face, stirring him awake. There was a fireplace opposite from where he was sitting. The room he was in was scarcely furnished. Aside from the plush armchair he sat on, there was a worn down couch pulled up against a wall, and a glass coffee table on an old looking rug. Theo tried to get up, but something held him back. He struggled for a while before looking down at his body.<p>

Rope confined him to his seat. He wiggled around some more, but he was bound too tight. There was no way he could loosen them up. A small whimper from the corner of the room caused him to jolt his head back up. Despite the bit of sunlight that flowed through the window, the place was actually pretty dark.

Theo squinted at the side of the room where the whimpering had come from. There was something there; it was struggling, just like Theo. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he noticed that the crumpled figure was Argos.

"Hey, boy," he said soothingly. "Don't worry about it. I'll get us out of here."

Theo began struggling again, hoping that by keeping it up, he could loosen up the ropes and get out of this place.

_Where are we anyway?_ Theo looked around the room again, still wiggling in his seat. _I don't really remember coming in here._

Theo tried recalling the day before. Raelynn showed up at his dorm and told him about Kevin's death. They grabbed some breakfast and then went their separate ways. After class, Theo had found Raelynn waiting for him. There had been another accident. They went to the library to research and, eventually, Theo had decided to take Argos for a walk. Was he still in the same neighborhood as last night? He had walked towards the area where he found the dead cat, but there was nothing there. The last thing he remembered was staring at the lot with the abandoned house.

Theo looked around the room again. There was an arched doorway to the right of the couch. He strained his neck to try and see what was behind him, but the armchair's back rose too high for him. Could this be that house?

Argos' whimpering grew into growls. Theo diverted his attention back to his dog. "I know, boy. I'm doing the best I can, but I'll get us out." Argos' growling became more frantic .

Theo stopped studying the room and focused on freeing himself. This could be where the witches had been hiding the entire time. _And it was right under our noses._

By this time, Argos was thrashing against the floor, his barks muffled by the rope tied around his snout. "Calm down, boy." Just then Theo felt something graze against his leg.

He froze.

Argos was going ballistic in the corner of the room. Theo felt his phone vibrating against his leg. Had it been going off this entire time? It was as if the entire world was trying to warn him about something.

Reluctantly, Theo looked down to see what had brushed up against him. There was a kitten sitting by his feet, its eyes set on Theo. "Hey there, little guy," he said. Then he remembered the gutted cat he had found nearby. "You should probably leave this place while you can."

His phone vibrated again. Argos' muffled barks had become vicious; Theo could hear the dog's body pounding against the hardwood floor. When he looked back up at Argos, his view of the dog was blocked by three larger cats. Theo remained frozen as the kitten ambled over towards the other cats, at the center of the room. They were all staring at Theo now. His eyes widened at what he saw, and he began to thrash about in his seat, as frenzied as Argos.

* * *

><p>"Still nothing," Raelynn said, agitated. Her first class had ended about ten minutes ago, and there was still no sign of Theo. She had tried calling and texting him, but there was still no response. After the library, he had gone to take Argos on his walk. <em>Maybe he spent the night over at Mike's?<em> She knew how stressed Theo could get during a hunt, and that Argos always seemed to calm him down. _Since he didn't have any classes today, he could have just stayed over_, she thought, but something in the back of her mind told her that she was just making excuses.

_He would have still called you_, it taunted.

"It's still worth a try."

Scrolling through her contact list, she found Mike's name. With just a tap of her finger, the call was in progress.

"Hello?" A woman's voice answered. Mike and his wife, Franky, were probably the last people on earth who owned landlines.

"Hi, Franky," Raelynn said. "It's Raelynn. I was just calling to ask you about Theo."

The other end of the line remained silent for a while.

"Yes, what about him?" Franky's voice came out strained. "Have you seen him?"

Raelynn's heart sank. "No. I thought that you might have seen him. He never came back last night, so I thought maybe he spent the night over at your place."

"No, he didn't," said Franky. "My husband thought it was strange when Theo didn't show up. We tried calling him, but he wouldn't answer. Mike volunteered to go out and search for him, but we had no idea where he had gone."

"Oh, well—"

"Is everything alright?" Franky said.

"Yeah. Yeah. Everything's fine. We got it under control. I think he might have just stayed over a friend's house off campus."

"Are you sure?" Franky didn't sound like she believed her at all.

"Yep! I'm positive. I just wanted to make sure that I was right. Thanks for your help."

"If you need anything, you can call us. Alright?"

"Of course," Raelynn said, and then she hung up. There was no way she wanted to drag Mike and Franky into this mess. Theo had told her how they both settled down from the life of hunting. They were growing too old and were tired of all the death that came with the job. They just wanted peace and Raelynn would not be the one to ruin that for them.

But, at least now she had a clue as to where he might be. Theo had told her he was going to take Argos for a walk, and she should have suspected as to where he would go. Theo never thought he was reliable when it came to research, but he had always been good on the battlefield. So that was the only place he could have gone yesterday. And without telling Raelynn? J_ust you wait, Theo_, she thought as she rushed to the parking garage. _If the witches didn't get you, I will._

* * *

><p>Turning left into the plaza near the neighborhood that Kevin had been found in, Raelynn searched frantically for any sign of Theo or Argos. She spotted a familiar car parked close to the section of the plaza that used to be a movie theatre, but was now just an abandoned office space.<p>

_This entire area is sleazy_, she thought to herself, but it wasn't true. Despite a few questionable spots, the area was relatively nice. Most of the cars in the plaza were parked by the Publix. She saw people walking in and out as if nothing was wrong. For all they knew, nothing was wrong. There was even a Starbucks across the street, it's parking lot filled with cars.

Driving over to a vacant spot next to the car that had caught her attention, Raelynn's worst fears came into realization. It was Theo's jeep. She stepped out of her own car and approached it. Her reflection in the pine green coating looked gnarled and twisted, exactly how she felt inside.

Breathing in and out, she pulled out her phone. Her next class would start in half an hour. "Screw it," she said, and began walking away from the plaza, away from Theo's car, and towards the only place she could possibly think of where Theo might be.

As she trekked down Goldenrod Road, she kept her eyes open for any possible clues, but nothing stood out. She paused for a second to look at the lot she and Theo had stopped by when they first visited the area. There was an abandoned yellow house deep within the trees and a car parked out front. It looked the same as it did the last time she was here. _Theo_, she thought. _I have to find Theo_. She diverted her attention back to the sidewalk in front of her and continued walking.

Theo had told Raelynn that the dead cat he found was near an animal hospital just down the road from where Kevin was found. It took her about ten minutes to arrive at the Mcabee Veterinary Hospital. She looked at the building suspiciously. Could the witches be hiding in there? _They would have access to animal. . . leftovers, and no one would suspect a thing_. She continued walking to the bike trail where Theo had found the gutted cat, her eyes never straying from the building as she made her way around.

A man opened a door on the side of the animal hospital and two large dogs ran out into the gated area. He noticed Raelynn staring and gave her a smile. She smiled back and continued walking along the path, stopping near a junkyard not too far away.

"This should be the spot where he found the cat," Raelynn said, recalling what Theo had told her. "But there's nothing here."

_Meow._

Raelynn looked around. A pair of eyes stared at her from the other side of a chain fence. Cats, she thought. She let out a noise of frustration.

"That doesn't mean anything!"

Angry at herself, Raelynn decided it was best to head back to her car. She was never of any help when she was like this. Despite everything that was going on, she had to calm down. As she strolled by the animal hospital one more time, a nagging feeling came over her. _One look won't hurt_, she thought as she walked up to the building's double doors.

The unmistakable chill from the air conditioner smacked Raelynn in the face as she entered the building. A couple of people were sitting in the waiting room, their pets close by. The sound of a dog barking from one of the examination rooms startled Raelynn and she tensed up, eyes shifting around nervously. Nothing seemed to be out of place. _Of course, sometimes things aren't always what they seem_, she thought, stepping up towards the counter across the room.

A woman with dark hair looked up as Raelynn approached. "Hello," she said with a kind smile. "Welcome to Mcabee's. How may I help you today?"

"Oh, hi, I. . . uh. . . just moved to this area recently and I was looking at different vet offices to see where I could take my dog if I ever needed to," Raelynn said. She could feel her fingers drumming against the side of her thigh nervously. _Stop that. You're acting like you're guilty of something. You're not._ "I haven't settled on one yet, but I was just wondering what the rates here were for annual check-ups and stuff."

The desk clerk was more than helpful, giving Raelynn all of the information that she had requested, but didn't actually need. As the minutes ticked on, Raelynn felt her initial unease about the location disappear. Everything about the office felt mundane and procedural. Maybe there really was nothing here after all. As the clerk concluded her pitch in an effort to try and secure Raelynn as a new client, Raelynn just nodded. "Well, thanks. This does seem like a really nice place. Definitely on my radar now. I'll. . . think about it."

"Take as much time as you need," the woman smiled, turning back to a stack of paper work as Raelynn backed away from the desk and hurried out of the animal hospital.

It still felt a bit weird, going from the cool interior of a building to the muggy air that lingered outside. Florida's climate was a lot different than Pennsylvania's, that was for sure. Raelynn still wasn't really used to it. She swore that Floridians were all fish and that, soon enough, she'd be growing gills too, just to breathe in the water in the air. "Nothing," she said to herself, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jean shorts and watching the lines in the sidewalk fly by with every step she took. "Nothing out of the ordinary. No Argos. No Theo. Just. . . nothing."

The high afternoon sun glared down at her and Raelynn just sighed. _Where the hell are you, Theo?_ Things like this had happened before, supernatural disappearances, but it still didn't calm Raelynn down. Theo wouldn't just leave his car somewhere over night. He wouldn't stay out with Argos all night without telling her or his family friends. Raelynn knew she needed to find her friend as quickly as possible, but she was coming up short on possible places that Theo could be.

_Meow._

Something soft brushed up against Raelynn's shin and she blinked, bringing her focus back to reality. She was staring down at a black cat, watching as it flicked its tail back and forth before circling around to rub itself against her again. Raelynn jumped back, away from the animal, and just glared at it. "I'm not a back scratcher," she said with disdain. The cat just sat down in front of her, titling its head slightly to one side. "Don't look at me like that, you mangy thing." With that, Raelynn pushed the cat with her foot, forcing it into the grass that lined the sidewalk. The creature gazed up at her with narrowed eyes and Raelynn gave a small hiss in response, causing the cat to flee back towards the bike path. "Stupid cats. . ."

_I was thinking about Theo._ She brought her thoughts back on track, noticing that she was getting closer to the plaza she had parked in. _If. . . if he is in trouble, then all I can do is figure out what we're dealing with and move on from there._ There were several different types of witches, each with their own specific ways of cursing and magic. All Raelynn had to do was whittle the suspect list down to one. Then she could get weapons. She could be prepared to face whatever was thrown at her.

She reached her red Focus and dug her car keys out of her back pocket, unlocking the driver's door. The sun reflected off of a pin she kept on her backpack, seated on the passenger's side, nearly blinding her. Raelynn huffed and threw herself into the driver's seat, shutting the door behind her, and thrusting her keys into the ignition. As the car's engine rumbled to life, she took one last sparing glance at Theo's car before she pulled out of her spot and started the drive back to campus.

* * *

><p>"Demons. Angels. Pentagrams. Yadda, yadda, yadda."<p>

Raelynn had her arms crossed over her chest as she slowly paced through the occult section of the library. It was down on the first floor of the building, but she always felt like it was more of a basement: deserted and silent. It really was an appropriate place for texts on the occult to be found. The mostly leather-bound titles gleamed in the fluorescent light, but Raelynn wasn't impressed. She still hadn't found anything that sounded helpful. "Ah, here we go," she said. "Witchcraft." _People probably think I'm absolutely crazy_, she thought to herself as she plucked the book from the shelf and hurried to find an empty table to start reading.

She found a small desk that resembled a cubicle, wooden walls rising up around it and providing privacy. _Perfect_. Raelynn threw her purple backpack down onto the floor and took a seat in the anything but comfortable chair before she cracked open the book.

Page after page, Raelynn flipped through never-ending text and sketches, absorbing as much as she could. Or, at least, as much as she felt necessary. Nothing seemed to be relevant. Nothing was of any importance to her. _You've gotta figure something out, Raelynn_, a voice in the back of her mind urged. _People are dying. Your best friend is missing_. "I'm aware," she said aloud, catching a few odd looks from the people working near her. Raelynn shook them all off and went back to the book, turning to see a familiar object.

"Well, hello hex bags."

Raelynn ran her brown eyes across the page methodically, reading what she already knew. Hex bags are an extension of dark magic. They're used to curse others. Animal remains. Goofer dust. She was starting to lose focus when she finally came across something new. Her eyes widened as she read something that was important. "It is common practice to destroy a hex bag with fire," she whispered to herself, feeling satisfied. At least this was something new, something she could actually use to her advantage.

_Still doesn't explain why the witches are doing this._

She stood up from the desk and stumbled backwards slightly, managing to regain her balance before she fell to the floor. Her head swam for a moment as her stomach let out an undignified roar. Raelynn sighed. She hadn't eaten much for breakfast, just half a bagel and a glass of water. Now it was catching up with her. _I need to just. . . eat and try to de-stress a little_. As Raelynn collected her backpack, she stalked back over towards the occult books and placed the one she had been reading back on the shelf. Another title about witches caught her eye and she took it, planning on stopping by the desk on the second floor to check it out before she went to get some lunch.

* * *

><p>The chatter around her would have distracted her on any other day, but today Raelynn barely noticed. She was sitting at a high top table at the Chick-fil-a on campus, everything spread out in front of her. The chicken sandwich and drink she'd purchased were situated on the left while her laptop took up the rest of the table top. The book she had checked out from the library was balanced precariously in her lap and she feverishly flipped through it while she ate.<p>

"Don't worry about it. It's all going to be taken care of."

Raelynn glanced up from her book as a group entered the small restaurant, quickly getting into the line before it grew any longer. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she recognized them: the group that had been behind her and Theo at Starbucks only the day before. The girl that seemed to be the center of the posse gave a grating giggle and Raelynn rolled her eyes, turning back to her food and research.

_Hex bags. . . hex bags. . . witches and witches_. She turned now to her laptop and started switching between tabs on general witchcraft and Wicca that she had opened. _Who knew there were so many types of witches in the world? I wonder if they all wear pointy hats. . ._

Something hit the floor and Raelynn looked up from her laptop, directing her attention towards the counter where all of the plastic silverware and condiments were kept. There was that same girl, looking absolutely mortified. One hand tightly gripped her own bag of food and the other was up near her mouth. "I. . . I am so sorry," she apologized, looking at the mess of food on the ground in front of her.

Raelynn assessed the situation. Looked like Miss What's Her Face had bumped into the guy she was apologizing too, sending his own food tumbling to the floor.

He gave a frustrated sigh that echoed through the room as he bent down and started scooping all of his spilled fries and unwrapped sandwich back into the bag they had come in. The girl was down, setting her own food aside to help the guy clean up the mess she had caused. He stood after they had finished cleaning up most of the food and threw the bag into the nearest trash can.

_Really_, Raelynn thought, shaking her head. _She couldn't even watch where she was going?_ As she continued to watch everything unfold, her eyes widened. The girl slipped something inside of her own bag before handing it to the boy. "Here," Raelynn heard her say. "Take my food instead. It's the least I could do for ruining your lunch." He took the food graciously, giving the girl genuine thanks before turning back to the counter to get ketchup.

"Come on, Nina," rang a male voice. "Let's get out of here."

The Native American girl turned to her group and flashed them a smile before they all headed out the sliding door they had entered from.

Raelynn's blood ran cold. _Nina?_


	5. Wait Until Nina Dies (Part Two)

Chapter Five: Wait Until Nina Dies (Part Two)

_Nina. . . that was the name Kevin kept muttering before he died_, she thought. _And then the girl from my class mentioned a Nina too_.

Raelynn stood up abruptly as realization came over her. _That girl, Nina. She bumped into the girl from my class before she completely lost it. Could she be_ the _Nina they've all been talking about?_

Raelynn looked out the glass window, trying to pinpoint where Nina and her posse had gone. They were moving down the Breezeway, passing the Barnes and Noble. _I can still catch up to her_. She threw everything into her bag as quickly as she could and made her way towards the same exit Nina had just taken.

The doors slid open as Raelynn approached. She stepped out, but stopped immediately.

_What can I do?_

Her body was frozen and she was starting to panic. _What do I do? What do I do? I have no clue how to confront her. What if she's not the one? What if she is? She could have Theo._ _She could be torturing him_. Raelynn didn't even know how to kill a witch. Should she just stab her? A shiver ran down Raelynn's spine at the thought of having to jab someone with a knife. _I can't kill someone. Even if they are. . . a monster. But, I'm pretty sure she's a witch. I think she put something in that boy's bag._

"Shit," Raelynn said. A few people were now staring at her as she stood there, blocking the entrance. She looked over at the direction Nina had been heading. She was gone. There was still a chance Raelynn could catch up to her, but if she was right and that girl _had_ placed something in the boy's bag. . .

_This is bad._

Raelynn turned and rushed in the opposite direction, towards the Student Union. It was lunch time, which meant that a large flow of students was heading towards the Union. Raelynn stopped and studied the crowd, looking for the boy from Chick-fil-a. She was pretty sure he had taken the back entrance towards the—

_There_!

The boy was just passing through the Student Union's threshold. She could tell it was him from the shock of red hair. _I have to be quick. If I'm right about this, then he's basically a ticking time bomb._

Raelynn picked up her pace, but the sea of bodies didn't help her much. She shoved her way through the crowd when a scream echoed from inside the brick building. All heads turned towards the open double doors. Another scream escaped the building and people soon began to rush out, while others rushed in to see what the commotion was all about. Too bad Raelynn already knew what awaited her inside.

As she made her way through the double doors, a third scream erupted near the center of the Union, where the UCF insignia was plastered on the floor. The scream sounded a lot like—

_A girl?_

Pushing through the ring of people that blocked her, Raelynn stumbled upon a sight she hadn't been expecting. There was the boy that Nina had given her food to. He was shouting the usual nonsense: "Nina is here!" "She's come for us!" _Blah, blah, blah_.

There was a group of guys holding him back from something. Someone was more like it. As Raelynn looked closer, she saw that his hands were wrapped around another student's shirt. _That's new. . ._

The boy broke free and began assaulting the girl he had in his grip. More students broke from the watching crowd to help hold him down. _So now Nina's having her zombies attack other people?_

"Move," a boy said as he pushed past Raelynn to help the others.

"The hex bag," Raelynn said, breaking free from her trance. _I have to find it_.

She spotted the Chick-fil-a bag thrown onto the roped off UCF insignia. Its contents were strewn all over the floor. The boy must have dropped it when he went crazy. She approached the struggle and ducked under the velvet rope that blocked anyone from stepping on the emblem. There was an old school legend that if anyone stepped on the Pegasus seal, they would never graduate. Usually all eyes would land on those brave enough to challenge the story, but today all eyes were on the lunatic who, apparently, needed five people to hold him down.

Raelynn crouched by the contents of the bag. There were fries all over the floor and an opened box of chicken tenders. Raelynn grabbed the bag and peered inside.

_Aha_. Inside the white paper bag, at the very bottom, was a canvas pouch big enough to fit in her palm. _Gotcha_.

Standing back up, Raelynn looked around, searching for a means to dispose of it. _It is common practice to destroy a hex bag with fire_, she recalled. _Destruction of the hex bag results in release from its power_. She found that helpful tidbit on the Wiccan website she had discovered while at Chick-fil-a.

"All I need is fire," she whispered to herself. _And I need it quick, before he decides to kill himself and take the rest of us down with him_.

_Fire, fire, fire. Where can a girl find some fire when she needs it?_ Raelynn had the urge to just shout for help, ask if anyone knew where she could find some fire and quick, but she stopped herself. That would only lead people to think she was an arsonist. And then _she'd_ end up being detained by people too. _No, yeah, bad idea. Just. . . keep calm and try to think_.

The nonsensical shouting of the hex bag's victim mixed with the voices of the few lone students that were trying to stop his random act of violence. There was just so much noise. Raelynn couldn't concentrate. She slipped back under the velvet rope and pushed her way through a crowd that had begun to form around the outer perimeter of the school's emblem, wanting to see what all the commotion was about. _Excuse me, pardon me. Got a magical artifact I have to burn. Just need some fire_. Raelynn cleared her way through the students and found herself in the food court area. "I need some air," she said, making her way towards the rear exit of the Student Union.

"It's crazy in there," a kid said, trying to keep himself from laughing. "I mean, I've never seen a fight in college before!"

Raelynn rolled her eyes before glancing down at the hex bag in her hand. She needed fire. Now. Her gaze swept across the deck that surrounded the back of the Union. People were sitting, some enjoying their lunches while others were whispering in hushed tones, huddled together. No doubt talking about the fiasco happening inside. Not seeing anything that could help her, Raelynn quickly made her way down the bridge that snaked its way towards Memory Mall. _Just need some fire. . ._

"Hey, watch where you're going, chick," came an unfamiliar voice.

Raelynn looked up, her eyes lingering on a guy who had just collided with a girl while walking. The girl apologized and quickly made herself scarce, but the boy continued his way down the bridge, muttering something under his breath, a smoking cigarette between his lips.

Her eyes lit up.

"Hey, hi," Raelynn said, rushing over to the guy and blocking his way down the bridge. "I. . . uh. . . you smoke! I was wondering if I could borrow your lighter for a second?"

The stranger shot Raelynn an untrusting look, but produced a lighter from his pocket and handed it to her. She quickly flipped it open and flicked the notched wheel along the side, watching as a flame danced to life. Without wasting another second, she touched the fire to the material of the hex bag and breathed a sigh of relief when the bag took the flame. "Thanks," she said, closing the lighter and tossing it back to the guy who barely caught it out of the air.

As the hex bag burned, Raelynn threw it on the ground and tried to block it from view. No need to draw attention to the unauthorized fire happening right before the student body's eyes. Minutes passed as the bag's canvas material twisted in on itself, turning grey and eventually disintegrating into a pile of ashes. Nonchalantly, Raelynn kicked the remnants of the cursed artifact down into the wooded area that surrounded the Student Union and made her way back inside the building.

The crowd of people had begun to disperse. Raelynn slipped between smaller groups as she neared the atrium of the building, where the school emblem sat. A few officers had shown up, questioning the boy who seemed. . . completely fine. Raelynn strained to hear the conversation as the boy finally spoke.

". . . and then I was here, with these guys just holding on to me. I. . . I don't remember walking here from Chick-fil-a or grabbing onto her or anything."

_He's okay_, Raelynn thought happily. At least that was one crisis averted. But, where had Nina run off to? _I'll never find her now. She could be anywhere. Campus is too big to go looking for just one person_. There had been others though. She remembered the three guys. They had been with Nina at Chick-fil-a _and _Starbucks. _If I'm dealing with a witch. . . then they could all be a coven. But, I still don't know what to do_. Raelynn wished Theo was around to give her a little advice. He might flounder about with research, but he was a good tactician.

_All I can do is sit in front of a book. . ._

Raelynn turned on her heel and headed back towards the Student Union's exit, finding an empty bench along the bridge and throwing her backpack down on it. A steady stream of students went by as she unzipped the main compartment and retrieved her laptop. Things still weren't making much sense to Raelynn. She opened up another tab on her browser, pulling up Google. This whole situation seemed really theatrical. She'd been with Theo when he had dealt with witches before, but usually they were low key. Nothing had ever happened to this degree before.

Bored and growing more frustrated with her inability to put all the clues together, Raelynn typed 'wait until Nina comes' into the search bar under the colorful Google logo and hit the 'enter' key.

Results popped up, much more than she had expected. It was odd though. The key words had turned up, but there was something different. Instead of Nina, the name Emmet glared at Raelynn. She raised an eyebrow and clicked the first link, automatically directing her to a website about American folklore. The story 'Wait Until Emmet Comes' lay in front of her and she spent the next few minutes reading through the entirety of the tale. As her brown eyes swept across the last line of text, she froze, recognizing a sort of similarity between the story and the events unfolding around her.

"Cats!" Raelynn practically jumped off the bench, her laptop tight in her grip. The bridge was almost empty now, so she only received a few annoyed glances by wandering passersby. There were tons of cats around where Kevin had initially been found. _And I told Theo it was nothing. But, what if it's something?_

She was digging around in her backpack again, searching for the book she had checked out of the library. _I remember seeing something. . . something about animals in here, but I didn't think it was important_. Grabbing the faux leather binding of the book, Raelynn lifted it from her backpack and immediately set to work, flipping through the virtually pristine pages until she found the passage she had been looking for.

"Skin Walkers," she read aloud, an unexplained shiver running down her spine. The passage continued down the rest of the page and on to the next one. Raelynn absorbed as much information as she could from it. Skin Walkers were Native American witches who chose to engage in dark magic and were consumed by it. With their souls now tainted by evil, they possessed strengths that normal witches didn't have, including. . .

"The ability to shape shift," Raelynn read, her eyebrows furrowed.

Most of the text consisted of the history and origin of Skin Walkers, but she didn't need any of that now. None of it told her how to kill one. _How do I even know if Nina's a Skin Walker?_ Then she stopped at a phrase near the bottom of the page.

"In order for a Skin Walker to transform, they must wear the pelt of the animal in which they take the form of." Raelynn immediately recalled the necklace Nina had been wearing when they first met. Raelynn had commented on it, and if she remembered correctly, it was the paw of some kind of animal.

"A cat," she said. It had to be.

She flipped the page and continued reading. "Due to their possession of dark magic, Skin Walkers feed off of fear and chaos". Something inside her head clicked. _Fear and chaos_. She thought back to the news report about Kevin. It had been televised, reaching people all over the county. It might not have caused widespread panic, but it certainly _was_ jarring.

_Not to mention that he died soon after_, she thought, her body overcome with goose bumps. _And then two college students lose it? Not to mention that another one commits suicide. They must be feeding on all this negative energy_.

Bringing her attention back to the book, Raelynn discovered that there was nothing left to help her. The last paragraph warned about the Skin Walker's ability to persuade and lure out its victims. _It's helpful, but not exactly what I'm searching for_.

Closing the book and shoving it back into her backpack, Raelynn leaned back on the bench and tried to see if she could find anything helpful on Skin Walkers on the Internet.

She had gone through five websites before finally giving up. "Nothing! How can there be nothing on how to kill a damn Skin Walker." It was getting dark, and Raelynn was starting to lose her cool again. Whatever momentum she had gained was fading away, fast. She needed to find a way to kill them so that she could go rescue Theo.

The image of the abandoned lot popped into her head. _That has to be the place_.

She shut off her laptop and stored it in her bag. Standing up from her seat with a stretch, she began to make her way towards Memory Mall. She pulled out her phone from her pocket, opened up a list of recent calls and tapped her finger on Mike's name.

"Hello," Mike's gruff voice answered.

"Hey, Mike. It's Raelynn. What can you tell me about Skin Walkers?"

* * *

><p>By the time Theo came to again, it was already dark. The only thing that lit up the room was the faint glow of the fireplace.<p>

He squint his eyes, looking at a corner of the room, and was barely able to make out the silhouette of Argos' body. _He's breathing. Thank God_.

The sounds of voices crept into the empty room. They seemed to be coming from the other side of the wall that the couch was pushed up against. Theo held his breath in an attempt to better make out what they were saying.

". . . you have it?" a rough voice spoke. Theo didn't remember there being a man earlier. The only thing he could recall before blacking out was the small calico cat morphing right before his eyes.

"Yes," a girl's voice answered. She seemed nervous about something.

"Don't just stand there then. Give it to me!"

There was some shuffling. Something fell and hit the floor, and Theo thought he heard someone whimper. Then the entire house fell into silence.

A couple of minutes passed by as the tension built from the other side of the wall. Theo strained to hear anything, but it was as if they had disappeared and left him alone in the house.

"What is this?" the man finally said, his voice rising in volume. "You said you had _all_ of it! So, where is the rest?"

"I-it's somewhere—" the girl—probably the one from this morning—said.

"Somewhere?! Then why did you lie to me?!"

"It's here I swear. . ." she hesitated. "All clues led us to this neighborhood. We were searching, but then our power began to diminish. We found this house and killed the old couple who lived here. It was the perfect place to set up base. We haven't stopped looking! We even hypnotized the cats in the neighborhood to search for us—"

"That's no excuse. I would have looked past it this time, but since you've deliberately lied to me, I feel as if it's only natural to make an example out of your precious cats."

"Wait—" she started to say just as an earsplitting screech echoed through the house, rustling Argos awake.

"I want the rest of it by Monday—"

"Monday?! That's in three—"

"I would have it by Monday if I were you," he said, enunciating each word. "Unless you want the rest of your coven dead too. Including you." There were a few hisses in response to his ultimatum. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be."

Theo heard footsteps approaching the arched entryway that led to the room the voices were coming from and let his head fall limp. He heard someone walk by him and make their way out the front door located somewhere behind him.

Upon hearing the door shut, Theo opened his eyes only to find the dark skinned girl from campus staring back at him. The expression on her face was grim and wild. There were only two cats with her this time, a black one and a grey one.

"So, you're finally awake," Nina said as she leaned closer to Theo, laying both hands on the chair's arm rests.

"What do you want with me?" Theo said—looking over at Argos, who was having another fit in his corner of the room—as innocently as possible.

"You don't have to pretend with me," she said. "I know who you are, hunter boy."

Theo's body went rigid. "Hu-hunter? What are you talking abo—"

"Cut the crap," she snapped. "I'm not in the mood right now!"

"What happened?" he said pointedly. "Not doing so well with the boss?

Nina backed away with a hiss. "I'd watch myself if I were you," she said, crouching by Argos' writhing body. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to you or your pooch, now would we?" The cats sitting by the fire were smiling, their dead eyes fixated on Theodore.

"You're just going to kill me like the others. What's the point?" He hoped his voice came out sturdier than he felt.

She snickered, standing up and making her way back to Theo. Relief rushed over his body. "Don't be silly. I have the perfect plan for you."

Her eyes glowed as she approached him. "We were pretty low on juice before, but all this chaos has been very satisfying. Since we won't be here much longer, I thought that it'd be best to go out with a bang."

The cats behind her purred. They too began to approach Theo; he hadn't noticed it before, but their movements were much stiffer than those of a regular cat's. "What are you talking about?" His bravado was slipping, dread creeping up in its place.

"What better way to cause chaos than with a mass genocide? I'm sure pitting a hunter against civilians would be a sight to behold, wouldn't you agree?"

"Ha! Do you honestly think I'd do what you want?"

"You don't have to," she said, waving a small pouch in the air. "At least, not willingly."

A numbed sensation spread throughout Theo's body as he recognized the object in Nina's hand.

A hex bag.

He fidgeted around in the armchair, becoming hyper aware of the ropes now binding him to it. Theo was trapped. Argos' muffled barks grew louder before he suddenly stopped, filling the room with an unsettling silence.

_Thud!_

Nina shifted her attention away from Theo for a second, focusing on the front door to the house instead. The noise sounded again and she looked back at the remaining two members of her coven, eyes narrowed. "Go see what that is," she said, unable to hide the annoyance in her voice.

The cats looked up at their leader before prowling towards the source of the noise, eventually being swallowed up by the darkness of the foyer.

"Now," Nina said, exasperated, "where were we?" Her grip around the hex bag was relentless, her knuckles beginning to turn white. She leaned down, placing her free hand against one of Theo's thighs and chuckling as she felt him stiffen at her touch. "Oh, relax. Try to look at this positively. Humans are stupid and ignorant, you know that from experience, don't you? You'll be purging the world of a few more idiots. There'll plenty more to replace them anyway."

Theo struggled against the ropes. This was his last chance to try and loosen them, to make an escape, but he stayed where he was, stuck to the armchair. Nina laughed softly and placed her hex bag inside Theo's left jean pocket, shooting him a nauseating wink afterwards. Theo found the nerve to speak. "You're insa—"

Yowling and screeching erupted from the foyer as the unmistakable sound of a door slamming against a wall echoed throughout the entire house. Theo turned his head towards the commotion, his view still blocked by the back of the armchair. Nina looked up in alarm, her eyes wide. "You. . ." she growled, taking a few steps backwards.

Raelynn entered Theo's line of sight and he smiled. The cavalry had arrived.

"How did you get past the others?" Nina's face was twisted into a mask of rage.

Raelynn smirked. "Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" She drew her arm back before thrusting it forward and opening her hand. Theo saw the light from the fireplace reflect off a cloud of something that Raelynn had thrown at Nina. Whatever it was hit the witch right in her face and she let out a guttural scream, stumbling back and throwing an arm over her face.

He watched Raelynn hurry over towards him, disappearing behind the armchair. The rope around Theo tugged against him softly as Raelynn worked to free him. "Rae. . ." He was so happy to see her. "What. . . what did you do?"

"I asked Mike for some help before I came," he heard her say. "He said this stuff would help, melted silver that he'd ground down into a powder. From what I gathered, it won't kill them, but it sure as hell hurts."

The rope fell away from Theo and he immediately threw it off of him, getting to his feet. "Thanks," he said.

Raelynn was rushing over towards Argos now, taking a knee next to the dog. He looked up at her with wide eyes. "Aww, it's okay, boy. Everything is gonna be okay." She reached out, touching the Xolo's muzzle in an attempt to comfort him.

"Theo, now!"

Raelynn stood and turned towards the sound of Nina's voice. _She recovered a lot faster than I thought she wou—_

Her body hit the wall behind her with enough force to leave her breathless. Raelynn blinked, allowing her mind to comprehend what was happening. Theo was restraining her arms, looking down at her with unusually lifeless eyes. "Th-Theo. . ." She pulled against him, trying to free herself. _What the hell is he doing?_ "Let me go, Theo," she said, her voice strained as she struggled. Her brown eyes rested on her friend's legs and she let out a deep breath before kicking at one of his kneecaps.

Theo released Raelynn and she ducked away, walking backwards. She wasn't going to take her eyes off him now. He recovered quickly, stalking towards her. "What are you doing?" she said, circling back towards the armchair. Theo followed her and ran forward, grabbing her arm before she even realized what was happening. Raelynn grimaced in pain as Theo twisted her limb behind her back. "Theo, it's me, Rae! Why are you doing this?"

"Nina wants the world to burn," Theo said. "She's here and I will serve her."

Raelynn grit her teeth together in anger, the pain in her arm fading away as adrenaline coursed through her body. Theo's words cut through Raelynn like a knife. _That bitch. . ._ "You cursed him," she shouted, directing the statement at Nina, who stood across the room, grinning as she watched the two friends fight. "I'm not gonna let you get away with this."

"It won't matter," the witch said. "He'll finish you off soon enough."

Raelynn threw her head back, making contact with Theo's chin and pulling away from him the second she felt his hands loosen. Without hesitating, she turned around and pushed him to the ground, watching as he started to recover almost instantly, but not before something tumbled out his pocket.

_The hex bag. . ._

Theo crouched and launched himself at Raelynn, but she leapt out of the way, immediately running for the pouch on the ground. "Gotcha," she breathed, not even waiting to see where Theo was as she scooped it up. There was something else that was more important. The crackling of the fire was the most welcoming sound in the world as Raelynn smirked and tossed the hex bag inside the fireplace, watching as the bright flames licked at it.

Nina shrieked, the sound deafening.

"Wha. . . what. . .?" Theo looked around the room, disoriented. Had he blacked out? His eyes fell upon Nina, whose lip curled in anger. She ran towards him.

"Theo," Raelynn screamed

He turned towards his friend and saw an object sailing through the air. His hand wrapped around the handle of the hunting knife and he stabbed it forward just as Nina lunged for his body. The resistance of the flesh and muscles in her chest against the knife made Theo's arm shake. A low rattle escaped Nina's lips and Theo yanked the knife out of her, letting her lifeless body crumple to the floor.

Raelynn walked over to where Theo stood. They hovered over Nina's dead body, chests rising from the struggle they had gone through.

"How'd you know to stab her heart?" she said between breaths.

"Lucky guess," Theo said, flashing her a big smile.

* * *

><p>After making sure Nina was truly dead—double tapping was one of the first lessons Theo learned from his parents—Theo and Raelynn snuck back outside to check on her two minions. They were still out cold from the powdered silver, so Theo finished them off quickly. They were monsters, sure, but Theo was never much for torture.<p>

"What now?" Raelynn said.

"The usual. I think I have a lighter and some salt back in my Jeep."

Raelynn waited at the house while Theo rushed over to his car, Argos on his heels.

"Hurry, Theo. I don't want to spend another minute in this place."

He opened up his trunk as soon as he arrived. "Stay here, boy," he said. "I'll be right back."

By the time they finished burning up the bodies, the two of them were too tired to discuss the events of the night.

"We should—"

"We better get—"

They nodded in silent agreement and began making their way back to the Publix parking lot. Argos awaited them eagerly as if nothing had happened. Theo remembered what his parents said about the Xolo.

Mexican lore spoke of them as protectors. His parents never said it out loud, but he knew the only reason they got him the dog was because they believed Argos could keep Theo out of danger. Theo didn't know what to believe, but he knew that he would be lost without Argos.

"So. . ." Raelynn said. Theo turned his attention back to his friend. She was leaning against her Focus, her face unreadable. Without notice, she threw her arms around Theo. He didn't even have time to react. She drew herself back and smacked him on the back of the head. "Don't you ever do that again."

"I-I'll try," Theo said. Argos was barking in the background.

"Okay," she said getting into her car. In a matter of moments, her car's engine roared to life and she rolled her window down. "I'm glad you're okay. . . I'll see you at school." And she was off.

Theo watched Raelynn drive away before he got into his own car. Argos jumped on his lap and began licking his face. "I'm alright, boy. But, I think we should call it a night."

He drove in silence all the way to Mike's house. Upon his arrival, Mike and Franky began barraging him with questions, but he dismissed them and said he'd tell them later—all he wanted was some sleep. He told them good night, petting Argos' head, before jumping back into his car and driving back towards the school.

* * *

><p>Saturday mornings were always busy at the Dunkin' Donuts on campus. Theo and Raelynn placed a bet on whether the new Starbucks would drive all the business away or not, and as usual, Raelynn had won.<p>

"So," Theo said. Luckily they were able to find two empty seats at a bar near the entrance. "What happened yesterday?"

Raelynn went on a full explanation about everything that Theo missed while he was M.I.A. She spoke about the drought in research and then how she saw Nina at Chick-fil-a. After the run in she had with that boy, one of her body guards called out her name and that was when Raelynn connected the dots.

"Her necklace was what tipped me off to the whole Skin Walker theory. I had skimmed through it before, but then it all started making sense—"

"Oh!" Theo interrupted. "Speaking of necklaces, I have something for you." Theo bent down and began shuffling through his backpack.

Raelynn waited with anticipation.

"Here we go!" he said, pushing something towards Raelynn. "Ta-da!"

"What is it?" she said tentatively.

"I found this while staking out Goldenrod Road. It was kind of just hanging from a tree, so I picked it up. I had a friend alter it into a necklace for you."

"Thanks," Raelynn said taking the necklace and placing it over her head. It was actually pretty cute. The brown leather strap attached to the key gave the piece a vintage look. Raelynn thought it was perfect. "I love it."

"I'm glad," Theo said with a goofy smile. Raelynn's face suddenly felt hotter. "But one thing doesn't make sense."

"What?" she said, not able to look Theo in the eyes.

"How could she have cursed those two students without having something of theirs?"

"Oh," Raelynn said. "Witches don't need something of the person. It won't be as powerful, but, then again, the curse varies with the witch."

"Well, I'm just glad it's all over."

"Yeah," Raelynn said, her face still pink from before. "Hopefully things will calm down from now on."

"I don't think they will." Theo's voice was serious now. "Now it's _my_ turn to tell you what happened while I was in that house."


	6. Author's Note

**Hello readers!**

**Sorry that this note has been a long time coming. I apologize for that. Life has been getting busy for both myself and MortalInstrumentals. So, we have decided to put off this story until our spring semester ends in May. We have a little bit of stuff already pre-written for the next "mini arc" but we don't want to post anything if we can't commit to finishing it up in a timely manner. So thank you for your patience. This story isn't abandoned. We'll see you all in May. :)**

**- Kiwi**


End file.
